I Don't Want To Be A Monster
by Super Sonic Pizza Delivery
Summary: When Sonic turns into the Werehog once again due to a mad experiment of Eggman's, he and Shadow must race to unravel his evil scheme. Along the way, they discover hidden truths about themselves... and each other. Contains Sonadow. If you don't like it, don't read it.
1. Going Places, Doing Things

**CHAPTER ONE: Going Places, Doing Things**

Through a dust storm in the middle of the arid Shamar desert, Doctor Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were trekking through the shifting sand. Rubbing his fingers along the edges of his grotesquely large mustache, Eggman looked to be in deep thought. Or at least what qualified for deep thought in his case. His companion robots knew that, though he claimed to have an IQ beyond measurable standards, the Doctor rarely thought of anything that would illustrate his genius.

"Sir, couldn't we have taken one of your vehicles," Orbot asked, "instead of walking through this desert?"

"I already told you that we're going for inconspicuous here," the Doctor said, "and besides, it's not like you get tired." The robot turned it's head toward the ground. Like the Doctor could even be inconspicuous. If the giant mustache and oddly egg shaped body didn't give him away, his robot companions would. But Orbot knew better than to point that out to him.

"I suppose, Doctor, but the sand gets in my joints, and I don't want my hardware to melt in this heat..."

"Stop your whining, we're almost there."

"Why are we even coming here anyway? This place doesn't have one of your lairs or anything?" Cubot asked, his voice still as annoying as ever. Eggman kept trying to replace the voice chip, but this annoying squeal was, unbelievably, the easiest to put up with.

"Let's just call it a package pickup," the Doctor replied, grinning evilly with all of his teeth showing. Something was up the Doctor's sleeve, something that he probably thought particularly ingenious... but the robots knew that he didn't have the best track record. Off in the distance, Cubot noticed a small village. "Is that the place there, Eggman? Finally!" "Oh thank goodness, I can get some oil again. These dry environments start to wear on the parts after a while after all..."

"Will you both shut up? Honestly, I'm at a loss for why you're not scrap metal yet." Eggman was looking slightly irritable, and true enough, the edge of his mustache was beginning to fray. The three of them walked off their annoyance until they reached Shamar, the one piece of civilization they found in a vast desert. Eggman donned a cloak to try and hide himself as he walked through the market. Back when the world was split into pieces because one of Eggman's more chaotic attempts at taking over the world, there was only one show here that sold essential supplies. However, now that it had been stable for some time now, the community had developed a much larger marketplace, filled with merchants selling everything from local delicacies to rugs that were obviously priced with gullible tourists in mind. But what Eggman was looking for wasn't exactly something that got sold in public, a fact that became obvious when he turned down a dark alleyway and met with a hooded figure.

"It is nice to see you again, Doctor..." the cloaked man said, a Spagonian accent seeping through the words. "I have what you asked me for. I trust you will honor our agreement."

Orbot and Cubot shared a glance. Doctor Eggman was evil, yes, but these backdoor dealings seemed even shadier than usual. Eggman paid them no mind as he replied, "Yes, Professor. The agreement will be honored, so long as you hold up your end of the deal."

The cloaked man chuckled. "Yes. Well then, follow me, and we'll make the exchange." The man tucked around a hidden corner and opened a door. The Doctor and the Professor walked in together, two very confused robots in tow.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a different corner of the globe entirely, a blue hedgehog was going for a nice jog. Of course, a jog for Sonic typically meant going at speeds of Mach 1 at least, but after spending all of yesterday at his birthday party - not to mention fixing a crack in the space time continuum that threatened the fabric of the universe itself and racing, of all people, himself- he figured he should keep to subsonic speeds for the time being. Besides, though it wasn't as fast as he could run, there was something about the pounding of shoe on dirt, the light strain of his lean muscles, the feeling of cool air rushing around his face, that made him feel more... alive? Happy? What was the word he was looking for?

He didn't ponder long before he saw a figure in the distance. Unlike Sonic, whose feet tended to hit the ground so fast that the tapping blurred into a continuous whir, this figure glided across the terrain, his shoes lighting up with Chaos energy fueling his speed. He also had a black leather bag slung over his shoulder.

"Yo, Shadow! Long time no see!"

The black hedgehog turned his head towards the blue and scowled. Sonic rolled his eyes. Shadow was always grumpy. Still, he turned around so that he could run side by side with the black hedgehog. It wasn't like he was going anywhere anyway.

"You know, it's polite to respond when someone talks to you."

"I'm busy."

"Doin' what?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, faker."

"GUN made you their delivery boy?"

"Of course not you imbecile!"

"Then what's in the bag? You might as well tell me."

Shadow gave him a strange look, then snapped back to his normal, brooding expression. Was that a blush the blue hedgehog saw? _Naw,_ he thought. _Must have been a trick of the light._

"It's none of your damn business. Stop following me," the black hedgehog replied gruffly. Sonic sighed.

"Can I at least run with you for a while?"

"Wha- No you may not!" Shadow replied hurriedly turning his head away from the Hero of Mobius. "Get away from me!" A burst of Chaos energy propelled the black hedgehog forward, and he accelerated quickly. Sonic could've caught up to him easily; the blur blur couldn't think of a time when he'd lost a race against Shadow. But he let him go instead.

_Shadow's acting awfully weird today,_ he thought. _In fact, now that I think about it, he's been acting weird for a while now_. Why, only yesterday, Shadow challenged the hedgehog to a fight. Even when the world was falling to pieces, he pushed so hard for one more chance to take him down. And when Sonic did finish the fight, coming out victorious, Shadow didn't snap some retort as he usually did, but only faced the ground, not showing his face. Sonic had wanted to ask if he was okay or why he wanted to fight, but with a ticking clock, he had left Shadow behind, instead rushing to restore the world.

_I never did explain myself for that, did I?_ Sonic frowned to himself. That was another thing he'd have to talk to him about. If only, for once, there was a time where one or the other of them weren't always flitting from place to place, trying to stop some disaster or save somebody. The Hero of Mobius gladly accepted the responsibility that came with helping others, and Shadow seemed to as well, but with the world being as it was, there was hardly ever a moment when they could just be alone...

Sonic looked up into the horizon. The last streaks of light painted the sky in reds and purples, with a few flecks of yellow as a reminder of the sun which had already set for the night. It was quite beautiful, so much so that the normally hyperactive hedgehog took a few moments to admire it. He stood alone in the silence of the green meadows, and he smiled.

_Maybe Shads is looking at this same view._

Sonic wondered why he thought that, but quickly shoved it aside. He was starting to get twitchy, and he knew that Tails was probably waiting until he got back to have dinner. After a few more seconds of taking in the sky of many colors, Sonic took off towards home. The wind blowing by made a hollow sound, but otherwise Sonic was completely alone with his thoughts.

He then realized how running made him feel. _Free_, he thought. _Running makes me feel free. _But all of the sudden, it made him feel empty too.


	2. Encounters and Decisions

**CHAPTER TWO: Encounters and Decisions**

**((Wow, this got more views in a day than literally anything else I've put online before combined. I decided to post the next chapter early, as it's mostly exposition anyway. But good exposition! The angsty kind. Enjoy!))**

Behind the door in Shamar, Eggman beheld a small laboratory. It wasn't as big as his workshops usually were, nor was it as clean, but the place absolutely reeked of discontent, which Eggman loved. "I see you've set yourself up quite nicely here, Professor Crudele," the Doctor noted. The Professor took off his cloak, revealing a sharp angled jaw and black, curly hair. He wasn't Shamarian; his skin was incredibly fair, and if the robots had to guess, he probably wore that cloak all the time to keep from getting sunburned. But why would someone like this person be here, of all places?

"It's not as nice as the university was in Spagonia, but it has enough. Besides," the man said with a maniacal glint in his eye, "At least here, my research isn't bound by some ethics board, or constantly being judged by that inane Pickle."

"Which reminds me," the Doctor pitched in, "The fragments, Professor. I don't have all day."

Professor Crudele laughed. "Oh, Eggman, you're as impatient as ever." The Professor walked towards one of the machines. He pressed a few buttons, causing the machine to whir and eventually dispense two tubes. The material inside looked like a sickening blend of a liquid and a gas, and the dark purple color with black smoke made it look poisonous. It reminded the robots of something they had seen before, but their processors couldn't find the data fast enough. "This is the final product, using scientific methods from both Western and Eastern traditions. It took a while, but it's finally stable enough to inject."

"Oooh, splendid!" the Doctor said, reaching for the tubes. The Professor yanked the tubes backwards. "Why Doctor," he laughed, "You don't even know the proper procedures to use this material yet. Not to mention you haven't made your payment." Eggman grunted in annoyance, before responding, "Fine. Keep it to the essentials, would you?"

The Professor took out a syringe and a remote. After hitting a button, a monitor whirred to life on the far wall. It had a diagram of the moon cycle on it. "Ah, yes, there we are. The serum is based on the sample of Dark Gaia that you provided for me. It took several years, but I successfully used my multidisciplinary approach to discover how it effects certain areas of biology. It behaves in much the same way."

"I figured it would as much when I entrusted you with the task, but you still haven't explained the procedure."

"Patience, Doctor. As I was about to say, as it is similar to Dark Gaia, it's effects are most potent at night. However, that also makes it nearly impossible to inject at that time, as the substance itself with most resist being moved."

The idea made the Doctor's skin crawl, though he wouldn't want to admit it. "So I have to inject it during the day. Is that really it?"

"If you would let me finish, Doctor..." Professor Crudele said, bringing his hand that was not holding the tubes to his face in frustration. He pressed a button, and one of the moon phases expanded on the screen. Half of the moon was enshrouded in darkness. " According to my research, the time of least resistance for the initial injection is during the daylight before the waning half moon, which in the time zone you provided for me..." he said, tapping a few keys, "...is tomorrow. I trust that isn't a problem for you, Doctor?"

"Not at all, Professor. But the second injection..."

"Yes, quite. After the initial injection, the second one can be used at any time, but for the greatest potency, I suggest the night of the full moon. The second injection will not resist in darkness if it senses more of itself in another host, and by that point, the original will have multiplied. The second injection will also make the overall effects more potent, but especially at night."

"You talk about it as if it's sentient."

The Professor spoke with a gleam in his eye. "Only in the sense that it wants to survive. It acts much like a virus. After all, Dark Gaia itself wanted to form its larger body from its many fragmented parts."

Eggman nodded in understanding, though the robots were as lost as ever. "I understand, though the idea of waiting a nearly a month for this to unfold is maddening to me. Is that the complete procedure?"

"Yes, Doctor. And now," the Professor said with his arm outstetched, "the Chaos Emerald, as promised."

Eggman bent his head backwards. "Hoo hoo hoo, you didn't think I'd just let you have a Chaos Emerald, did you?"

"But our agreement..."

"Our agreement was that if you did this for me, I'd let you study the Chaos Emerald, and you will. But you will study at my base, under my supervision... as my prisoner." He pulled a remote out of seemingly nowhere, and a large robot unearthed itself from the ground, putting Professor Crudele's arms and legs in metal restraints. "You won't get away with this!" the Professor yelled as he struggled against the restraints.

"Oh," Doctor Eggman said, "And who would miss you? The university that fired you for unethical experimentation? Or the locals of this town, who barely know you? Nobody will even know you're gone. And besides," the Doctor said as the Professor was sealed away, revealing a small cockpit, "if I plan on getting Sonic, there's no better way to attract his attention than a hostage." The Doctor and his robots boarded the machine, and propellors whirred to life underneath the massive machine. "Oh, I almost forgot," the Doctor added as he pressed a button on the dashboard of the now flying machine. A missile launched and hit the ceiling, and as it exploded, the evil man and his companions flew out, reveling in the confusion of standers by before exiting the resulting smoke and flying away.

* * *

Shadow arrived at Rouge's place just before the sun was beginning to set. He walked over to one of the tables and gently placed the leather bag on the surface before sitting in one of the chairs and putting his head on the table. "Damn it all..." he muttered, burying his face in his hands. He noted that his head was warmer than usual, which would normally be cause for concern. Shadow had been engineered to be the Ultimate Lifeform, and as such almost never got sick. But this warmth stemmed from something other than physical illness, something Shadow would never admit to.

"Looks like somebody had a nice trip to Westopolis." Shadow lifted his head suddenly and turned to face Rouge. She, unlike him, didn't have the day off from GUN duties, and it was obvious that she was a little worn from whatever assignment she had that day. Her sarcastic voice had grown to be a comfort for him- she was as close to a friend as he had ever had, even letting him stay at her house after she found him one night sleeping in a GUN warehouse. Still, it was only until he could find a place of his own; while Rouge was kind to him, he typically preferred to be alone, a sentiment he expressed when he lifted his head to glare at the jewel thief. She, of course, just smiled.

"Oh, what's the matter, Shads? Big Blue again?" He scowled. _I should have never told her about that,_ he thought.

"I didn't go to his birthday party."

The bat's eyes grew wide. "Still upset over that? Honey, you were busy. And besides, I don't blame you. It's hard for you to hide the truth from him under normal circumstances. I can only imagine at a party, where you'd be around him for hours..."

"Shut up."

The bat backed up. "No need to get snippy. I guess I should know better by now than to offer you sympathy." She glanced at the bag on the table. "So you finally got the gift. You want me to wrap it for you?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Things like that tend to require a lady's touch."

"Rouge, I am fine. I can wrap it myself."

"But knowing you, it's probably shaped really oddly..."

"Rouge," the black hedgehog snapped, standing up quickly. Ever since she discovered what he really thought of his supposed rival, she had pushed and pushed to involve herself as much as possible.

She just shrugged. "Alright, alright. It was just a suggestion. No need to bite my head off." The bat turned around and began to walk to the stairs. "I'm heading to bed. Goodnight, Shadow."

She ascended the stairs, and soon he was lost in thought again at the events of the previous day. _He beat me again, and just left. He didn't even make a stupid pun that time. He just up and left_. Shadow scowled. I_ guess I'm just not worth his time anymore, huh._ He still beat himself up for challenging Sonic in the first place, but it seemed like the only time he could get the blue hedgehog all to himself. He thought that if there was any way that he could get him to stop just long enough to tell him... but after only a few minutes of running and attacking as hard as he could, it was over. Sonic had beaten him, and then just as fast as he was there, he was gone.

_Maybe that was a sign,_ Shadow considered. _Maybe something out there is telling me that it's time to put away childish desires and admit the truth. _He stood up and put his fist in his hand. _After I deliver this present, I'll cut Sonic out of my life. If I can't be around him without feeling miserable, and telling him how I feel isn't an option,_ he decided, _then it's best to just end the pain now._

**((And that's chapter two. The plot actually starts to happen in the next few chapters, guys. I just love building up suspense.))**


	3. In Which the Plot Finally Happens

**CHAPTER THREE: In Which The Plot Finally Happens**

**((For the rest of the summer, I'll update on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Enjoy, and please review.))**

Flying over the desert, the robots and Eggman were glad they didn't have to walk through the desert again. This means of travel would get them to Eggman's latest base before it was morning there. Still, a question bothered the robots. "I've never seen that man before, but he seemed to know you pretty well," Orbot said to the Doctor. "When could you possibly have talked to him? The entire time the Gaia event was happening, you were too busy laughing maniacally and insisting it was your best scheme yet to do anything. And furthermore, how did you get a sample of Dark Gaia?"

"Shut up! Remind me to rewire you once we get back so you don't talk so much." Eggman turned his head to face the robots. "I got the sample and delivered it when time was folded on itself. Although for the Professor it was several years ago, I only made the delivery yesterday."

Cubot piped in, "So you were planning for the scheme with Time Eater to fall through?"

Eggman knocked him on the head, inwardly cursing his observation. "No," he said, trying to cover his tracks, "I just figured that after all this time, it would be wise to have a Plan B. And what a wonderful Plan B it is."

The robots scratched their heads. Their heads didn't itch, but it made their CPUs process faster, for some reason. "I don't know, Doctor. Didn't Dark Gaia just make people act depressed or silly? It seems like injecting yourself with it would just make things worse."

Underneath his gargantuan mustache, a dark grin spread across the large man's face. "Oh, but it's not for me. It's for that annoying blue rat."

Underneath the three of them, banging sounds could be heard.

"He just doesn't give up, does he?" Cubot screeched.

"We won't have to put up with it much longer. See," Eggman pointed at a brightly colored building, "we're almost home already."

* * *

Sonic barged through the door, late as usual. Tails had grown accustomed to his friend being late for dinner, so when the hedgehog was late coming home, the fox knew to just watch some TV until he came home. "Hey, Sonic! How was the run?" Tails said, walking towards the kitchen counter where two chili dogs waited on a plate.

"Eh, fine I guess," Sonic replied, "same as usual, I suppose." Tails didn't like to hear that; Sonic loved running. Unless something happened to him, things were seldom 'just fine.' But he knew better than to press the matter. Sonic was Sonic, and as such, stubbornly independent when he wanted to be.

"Alright," the fox replied, grabbing the plate and putting it in Sonic's usual spot at the table. "They're a little cold because you're late home, but I don't think you mind that much, right Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog smiled at the young fox. "Yeah. thanks for waiting up for me, Tails."

"It's no problem. They're showing a good science fiction show on the TV."

Sonic winced. "Tails, I don't know how you can stand that stuff. After spending all day fighting robots, the last thing I want to see is a TV show where some robot takes over the earth."

"I guess it's because while you fight robots, I build them," Tails responded with a small laugh. It was all the more funny because Tails knew that when Sonic watched TV, it tended to be action movies with a lot of explosions, but then, Sonic tended to defy logic in more ways than one.

At the moment, Sonic was propping his sneakered shoes on top of one of the other chairs at he took a bite into the chili dog, the chili dripping on his face. He chewed slowly, seeming to be lost in thought, before turning to Tails. "Hey Buddy?" the hero asked.

"What is it, Sonic?" Tails said, turning his head from the television.

"That surprise party... did you invite Shadow to it?"

"What's this about all of the sudden?"

"Nothing, really. It's just that he wasn't there until after we fixed the whole issue with Time Eater, and it wasn't exactly his choice then."

Tails looked at his hands. "You know, I told Rouge that Shadow was invited too, but she just said something about how he was busy on that day and hung up really quickly. I'm sure it was nothing to be concerned about."

"Yeah..." the blue hedgehog sighed. He looked at his plate for a few seconds before taking his feet off the chair and standing up. "On second thought, I'm not really hungry."

"What? But you're always hungry!"

"Not true. I don't always have to eat, you know. I think I'll just head to bed."

"But..." the young fox interjected before the television was overcome with loud static. After a few seconds of covering their ears, the hedgehog and fox looked to see Eggman's face flooding the TV screen. "Eggman," Sonic said with contempt. He didn't know what the latest scheme was, but he was annoyed; not only did Eggman attack him on his birthday, but now he won't even give him a day off.

"Oooh hoo hoo hoo hoo," Eggman laughed in the screen, "Sonic the Hedgehog, you may be wondering why you can't watch whatever inane prattle you spend your free time on. It is because I have this man here." Eggman pulled a very pale looking man into the screen. The man was gagged and bound. "He's a Professor from Spagonia University, and he also is a researcher of the Chaos Emeralds. Why, it sure would be a shame if someone of his caliber were... snuffed out by tragic circumstance." Doctor Eggman held a strange variety of ray gun up to the gentleman's head. Tails recognized the man from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where... "You have one day to get to the Chemical Plant if you want this man freed."

The image faded back to static, and then returned to the TV show, where the main character was nursing a gunshot wound from whatever guest star they brought in that week. "What're you going to do, Sonic?" Tails asked, standing up.

"I guess I don't really have a choice but to go."

"But it's a trap, Sonic. Who knows what Eggman has in store for you?"

"It's a person, Tails. Besides, I'll just do what I always do," Sonic said, heading out the door.

"What is that?"

Sonic smiled as he closed the door. "Be the hero."

* * *

Sonic had taken off as soon as he heard the news, and now, after three hours straight of running at speeds nearing Mach 2, he was beginning to feel the effects of fatigue. _Not that surprising_, he thought, _after all, I was about to go to bed when I got the news_. Aside from that, Sonic didn't run much at night; he couldn't see in the dark very well, which made the possibility of taking a high speed fall that much more likely. Add to that the drop in reflexes that naturally happened when he was tired, and running at night became a scary proposition.

_It's not like I have a choice though, is there?_ Sonic sighed. This was just what he did. Although so many years ago he had run off, saying that he would never be held down by anyone or anything, his spirit was always protective of others. Whether it was Eggman's robots, a disturbance in the balance of the world, or a threat from outer space, Sonic was always there to save people. He always would say he just felt like it, but every once and a while, Sonic took a moment and wondered why, why really, he was always risking his life for other people. _I guess it's because they can't save themselves,_ he said. _I know some pretty competant people. Knuckles is strong enough to break through walls like they were made of paper, Tails was a prodigy in mechanical engineering, and Amy... well, her hammer could pack a pretty solid wallop if she wanted it to. But in the end, they all depend on me. Everyone does._

_In fact, there's only one person who doesn't need me to save them._

He crossed into Chemical Plant Zone, and was immediately greeted by the smell of toxic purple water, the loud whirring of mechanical parts... and a giant robot, binding the hero's arms and legs to a large piece of metal. Sonic could hear Eggman's laughter from a distance.

I_n fact, I just might need Shadow to save me._

* * *

Shadow had no idea of these proceedings at the time, of course. No, the dark hedgehog had somehow already fallen asleep in Rouge's guest room, when all of the sudden the phone started ringing. The Ultimate Lifeform snapped his red eyes open. _What could someone possibly want at this hour? _he thought to himself as he picked up the reciever. "This had better be important," Shadow grumbled into the phone. Expecting to hear one of his so-called superiors from GUN ramble about something, the black hedgehog was surprised to instead a voice of youthful innocence. "Shadow," Tails was saying on the other end of the phone, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I have have to ask for your help."

Shadow groaned. "Don't you have Sonic to run annoying errands for you?" He grumbled.

"That's just it. About four hours ago, we got a communication from Eggman. He was threatening to hurt a Professor is Sonic didn't come, so of course he left."

"And what does this possibly have to do with me?"

"Well, I recognized the man from somewhere, so I used my link with Professor Pickle's computer. It turns out, it was Professor Crudele."

"The man who got fired after illegal mutant experimentation," Shadow responded. It had been all over the news several years ago, but the man had all but faded from the public eye. "I still want to know why this is so important as to call me at this ungodly hour."

"That's just it, Shadow. If Eggman kidnapped a Professor who is well known for doing illegal, painful experimentation on live subjects, many of whom died or got brutally disfigured and Sonic has yet to contact me four hours after leaving..."

The phone went to a dial tone. Shadow was off.


	4. Accidental Betrayal

**CHAPTER FOUR: Accidental Betrayal**

**((I realized I hadn't done this in previous chapters, but even though it's redundant, I'll do it anyway; Sonic and anything pertaining to Sonic belongs to SEGA. The only part of this that is my own invention is Professor Crudele and parts of the storyline. **

**That being said, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!****))**

"Ooh hoo hoo, hello there Sonic. You're a bit early," Doctor Eggman said with a smile on his face, "I almost wasn't prepared for you."

Sonic stared down the Doctor. "You know, Eggman, normally you're not into capturing me alive," he said with a laugh, although he secretly wondered if he should be pressing his luck so much.

"You should consider yourself lucky, Sonic. After all," he said, "You're going to be the beginning of a new era of scientific discovery." He looked up at a small clock at the top of his robot screen. "Oh dear," he said with an impatient look on his face, "It appears I still have a few minutes until the fun can begin. Oh well. I guess I'll just put you in one of my new cells."

Sonic did his best to stop from rolling his eyes. Cages had never been able to hold him before, no matter what they were made of. The robot holding him took him to an empty spot on the floor next to the bound, but no longer gagged, Professor. Sonic grinned. _I'll just run before the walls go up,_ he planned to himself, _and get the Professor. He's making this too easy._

Sure enough, when he was let on the ground, he took off in a sprint- but for some reason, he seemed to hit an invisible wall. _That feeling..._ he thought_..._ _why is that so familiar? It's almost like..._ "Ooh hoo hoo," Eggman laughed, clutching at his rotund stomach, "as you can see, it's not so much fun when you're the one who's stopped by Chaos energy. Professor Crudele's secondary research didn't give me much, but it did teach me how to use this," he said while pointing to a blue Chaos emerald, "to make walls stronger than any substance known to man." He laughed to himself, as though he had already succeeded in what whatever scheme he cooked up this time- yet unlike usual, he was playing his cards to his chest. "Well, I will see you at sunrise, my pesky little Sonic," he stated, leaving the room with the two caged captives.

Sonic took this time to look around the facility. The entire place reminded him of his early days of heroic work. Tubes stuck out of the wall with toxic purple water flowing through them, and the entire place was made of slightly rusted metal. It struck Sonic as odd that Eggman would use one of his old bases a second time. _I guess even Eggman has limited resources,_ he thought. _Besides, not counting yesterday, I hadn't been to this place in over a decade. But if he has me trapped here, why hasn't he tried to kill me yet?_

"Pondering your fate, hedgehog?" the Professor said. Sonic noted the familiar twinge in his accent, but having been all over the world, he couldn't quite place it.

"I'm not worried. So why are you here, exactly?" Sonic turned and asked the man in the other cage.

"Do you really not recognize my face? I was in the papers for weeks a few years ago."

"I don't read the newspaper, Prof. It's either too depressing, or it's something I did anyway."

The solemn man chuckled quietly to himself. "I see. Then I guess I should properly introduce myself." He turned to Sonic as much as the bindings would allow and bowed his head slightly. For some reason, it seemed more mocking than respectful. "I am Sven Crudele, a former Professor at University of Spagonia."

The man's name didn't ring a bell, but the university did. "Hey, I've been there before. I know one of the other Professors pretty well, in fact. The name Pickle ring a bell?"

The man shivered, as though disgusted. "Oh yes. I could never forget him and his constant lunacy. What is it with that man and his sandwiches? I'm surprised he ever got anything done at all."

Sonic laughed. "That sounds like Pickle, alright." The blue hedgehog paused a moment, looking at his surroundings. Eggman must've been pretty confident in the Chaos barriers, because there were no guard robots that he could see and plenty of ways out of the room. The Professor was skin and bones- he obviously spent too much time doing research- but while it would be slightly uncomfortable for Sonic to carry him, the light weight wouldn't slow him down too much.

He had obviously been staring for a long time, as the Professor turned his head and snapped, "Will you quit staring at me?" The man lifted his hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Honestly, I don't see why he would choose you of all people to experiment on."

"Maybe he's hoping for it to fail? I mean, it'd be a pretty easy way to get a nemesis out of the way."

"You don't seem threatened at all."

"Trust me, he's not getting close enough to me to try anything. Besides," he said as he heard loud clattering sounds in succession, getting closer and closer, "it looks like help is on the way."

* * *

Hover skates scorched the floor of the base, as Shadow approached the center of the facility. He had encountered robots, yes, but very few of them. _He did just attack us yesterday,_ Shadow reminded himself, _so he probably hasn't had time to make many new ones yet. _

_Which makes it all the more strange. The Doctor must have something especially foul up his sleeve... something time sensitive... and how does Professor Crudele factor in? Damn, none of this makes any sense._

Shadow sidestepped around small pools of chemicals, trying not to breath in the fumes. They most likely wouldn't hurt him- as the Ultimate Lifeform, he was immune to most poisons- but it still would burn him at the touch. _Sonic, where are you?_ he thought. _I refuse to let anything happen to you._

Soon, he heard talking from far down one of the hallways, and he saw the shadow of a round figure. _It's the Doctor,_ Shadow realized. He pushed the limit of his skates, leaving burn marks on the floor, until he lunged at Eggman from behind, pinning him to the ground. Eggman, obviously caught off guard, yelped, "What is the meaning of this? What are you doing?"

Shadow dug his elbow into a sensitive spot between Eggman's ribs. "Where is he?" he snarled.

"Who, Sonic? Not here."

He pressed harder, prompting Eggman to wince, "Don't lie to me! He left almost five hours ago to go here and you and I both know he always follows through. What are you doing to him? Some kind of experiment?" Shadow spat. Eggman suddenly grinned, as though he had just come up with something brilliant.

"Oh yes, Shadow, you caught me. Gosh darn it, I've been stopped."

"What did you do to him?"

"Well, it's a new testing...thing... and it would... umm... take his speed away."

Shadow scowled. The Doctor seemed like he was lying, but at the same time... if something took Sonic's speed away, he would be heartbroken. To Sonic, speed defined him. It gave him his name. It gave him a skill. It gave him purpose. Even if Eggman was lying, he didn't want to take the risk of calling a bluff where there wasn't one.

And if it was something even worse...

"An antidote," Shadow growled, "There must be one. Even you're not dumb enough to mess with Sonic's speed without making an antidote."

"I'll have you know I have an IQ of over 200..."

"Answer the question, Doctor. Where is it? I'm not joking around."

"Shadow, you never joke around."

The black hedgehog hit the Doctor in the ribs, and he heard the small snap of a fracture. Eggman yelled and let a tear run, but he still smiled. "It's in the control room, four rooms down from here. When you press the large yellow button, you'll see a syringe with purple fluid in it. You'll have to inject Sonic with it, but of all people, you should be able to do it."

Blinking, Shadow paused. Only I can do it? he thought.

"You'd better hurry, though," Eggman said, looking out the window at the sun just barely coming over the horizon, "The syringe is most likely to do it's job if you inject him before sundown. After that, all bets are off."

The hedgehog got off Eggman, now that he got the information he needed. He skated away, leaving Doctor crying and yelling for a medic robot.

* * *

With a hard kick from his unusually strong leg, the door to the control room came flying of the wall. Shadow panicked for a moment when he saw that it headed straight for Sonic, but was both relieved and disturbed when he saw a barrier of pure energy stop it before it got close to him. _The Doctor has all sorts of new technology, huh?_ he considered. Shadow was curious about the kind of machine one would need to create a barrier, but then immediately snapped to focus on the task at hand. _Where is that yellow button?_ he thought, frantically looking on the control panel. It has to be here somewhere.

"Shadow! Good to see you, buddy. Wish it were under better circumstances, though." Sonic was fussing with his shoes, as if preparing to run out. _Cocky little bastard_, Shadow thought, yet somehow it seemed endearing. Still, he kept searching, not outwardly acknowledging Sonic's comment. "You're not even going to talk to me, huh? I guess I understand," the blue hedgehog said, slightly saddened.

_Aha! I found it! _Shadow thought in triumph, and he smashed his fist on the large yellow button which, of all places, had been in the center of the control panel. With the hit of the switch, a tube started to come out of the front of the panel, a syringe inside. Surely enough, it had purple liquid in it... but it also appeared to be smoking. _Can I really trust the Doctor? This looks very suspicious,_ Shadow thought, but ultimately grabbed the syringe anyway. "I'm going to let you out, Sonic, but I need you to hold still for a minute after I put the barrier down," he yelled. Sonic raised an eyeridge.

"Okay then. You're the one doing the rescue, I guess."

Shadow had already found the switch to deactivate the barriers when he was searching for the stupidly obvious yellow button, so he walked over to it and pulled on the lever. With a faint whooshing sound, two barriers were deactivated. Shadow glanced to the second sound and noticed Professor Crudele, now standing up after a little surprise. Seeing his face, the face of the person that was somehow linked to experimenting on Sonic, like he was disposable and not the hero, the great guy, the one that Shadow lo...

Well, let's not get carried away here. The point is that seeing him made Shadow want to hurt him, and give him far more than a fractured rib. He probably would have done it too, if Sonic hadn't piped in with, "So why do you need me to hold still? I want to get out of this place." Shadow snapped his head to look at the blue hedgehog, and he slowly ambled over to him, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "This should help you, Sonic," he said, pulling the syringe out from the tube, "but it may sting a little."

Both Sonic's and the Professor's eyes widened, though for entirely different reasons. "I don't know what you're going on about, Shadow, but I hate needles. I don't need a shot," Sonic complained, squirming a bit. "That's right, you must not inject him with that serum, sir," the Professor pitched in.

"You don't get a say in this, Professor. I know about your work."

"That's what I mean. If you use that on your friend..."

"Then what? You really think I care about your little experiment?" Shadow growled at the man. "Believe me, I know better than anyone what it's like to be a test subject."

"Then why would you do that? Please, if you just stop..."

"But this is something that I have to do, Professor."

He walked over to Sonic, who had been thoroughly confused by the whole interaction. "I said I'm not taking any shots," Sonic said.

Shadow, exasperated, pulled a gun. "Unless you want me to take a shot at one of those precious legs of yours, I suggest you hold still."

A moment of hurt flashed on Sonic's face. "Are you insane?" the Professor squeaked, "Are you really so desperate to give that to your friend?"

"You obviously don't understand the urgency here, Professor."

"I do, believe me, I invented that serum-"

"Then stop talking and let me do this!" Shadow was yelling now, his temper beginning to show. Sonic tapped him on the shoulder.

"You know Shadow, you're forgetting one thing..."

"What is it, Sonic?" Shadow snarled.

A gust of air brushed up against the black hedgehog's fur. He around and saw Sonic at the other end of the room. "I'm faster than bullets."

Shadow screamed in aggravation, chasing after Sonic. It was an enclosed room, so the hedgehogs were always in close quarters, but every time Shadow approached Sonic, the blue hedgehog would laugh and speed up even more. "Will you stop this?" Shadow yelled.

"Come on, Shadow," Sonic smirked, "I'm just having some fun. Besides, aren't you the one who asked for a race just yesterday?"

Something in Shadow snapped, and he stopped abruptly. _Yesterday,_ he remembered. _When you left me..._

Due to Sonic's general inattention and the small space of the room, he did a fast loop around the room. When he finally turned his head forward, it was too late; he ran into Shadow face first, making both of them fall. Shadow spread out his arms quickly to save the syringe, so he fell chest first on the hard metal floor. Sonic was slightly unlucky in that he fell into the spines on Shadow's back. _We're so close._ Shadow shook his head. Where did that come from?

"I'm so sorry, Shadow," Sonic said, his eyes showing genuine remorse. "I should've..."

Shadow took the syringe and thrusted it at Sonic's arm, making contact. "Maybe once this is over with," Shadow said while pushing the head down, pushing the fluid into Sonic's arm, "you'll realize how much you were overreacting, and thank me."

A few moments after the injection was done, Shadow discovered he was wrong in the most painful way he could think of: hearing Sonic screaming in pain.

**((Long Chapter, I know, but if the next few chapters weren't long then there would be no Werehog until Chapter Six, which is an incredibly long time to wait if you're impatient like me :) That being said, Werehog writing begins with the next chapter, so I'll hopefully see you then.))**


	5. Enter the Werehog

**CHAPTER FIVE: Enter the Werehog**

**((Or, alternate title, What the frick took so long?))**

Sonic had been convulsing in sheer agony, his entire body on feeling like it was on fire. _The pain, so much pain... what did Shadow do to me? _His bones shifted and cracked, his face twisted unnaturally, and his vision blurred in and out, clouded by what appeared to be purple puffs of smoke. Through his own shrieking and howling, he could only hear a few snippets of words between Shadow and the Professor.

"What's wrong with him? Why is his body doing that?"

"I tried to warn you..."

_How could he do this? I thought he might be mad, but..._

"It is an artificial essence of Dark Gaia."

"What is a Dark Gaia?"

_Shadow, it hurts, make it stop..._

"...drove the whole world mad..."

It felt as though his blood were boiling over._ We're friends, right? We were always... friends... before. Why?_

"I thought it was an antidote."

"The Doctor never did anything to him."

_Can you... please._

"We have to help him!"

_Please... Shadow... I'm begging you... I'll do anything... just... please... make it..._

The pain stopped. Sonic patted down his entire body, concluding that everything on him was exactly as it had before, save for a small lump on his arm where the needle had gone in. He panted in relief, taking deep breaths of air. _Thank Chaos,_ he thought,_ it's all over._ He was his usual self, except for one bit of biting anger. "Shadow," he yelled," what did you do to me?"

Shadow looked upset. "I don't know... I thought it was an antidote, but apparently, it was the experiment."

"Wait a minute; you injected something into me without knowing one hundred percent what it was?" Sonic said incredulously. Either that was extremely reckless of him, or- and Sonic hated to think this, but- Shadow had no interest in the outcome.

"I did what I had to. I was told you were going to die, or have your speed taken away, and that this would fix it." Shadow was staring at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the blue hedgehog out of embarrassment. Sonic somehow knew that Shadow was genuinely trying to look out for him, but for some reason, he was still angry.

"Well, and who says I'm not? We don't know what that stuff is, Shadow. Maybe it's killing me slowly, or going to paralyze me."

"Actually," the fair skinned man interjected, "I can assure you that you will not die." Sonic shot him a glance, and the Professor explained, "If you were going to die, it would've been immediately after contact."

Face met palm. "Oh, great," Sonic said sarcastically, "Well, it's good to know that I survived something that could've potentially killed me."

"The odds of you dying were always very low, Sonic. Especially sense you've been exposed to very similar substances before."

This was news to Sonic. He hadn't gotten a needle stuck in him since an ill fated visit to Doctor Mario's a long time ago (which, believe me, is a long and embarassing story that he would rather not repeat.) His bewilderment must have shown on his face, because Professor Crudele sighed. "You really don't remember, do you? That sensation didn't remind you of anything?"

Sonic shook his head, though deep down he thought otherwise. _If it was something that bad, I don't think I want to remember._

The Professor continued, "I suppose if the serum really works, you'll recall tonight."

Sonic panicked. "Wha-what? What is it going to do to me? What's going to happen tonight?"

"Hopefully, nothing. It was designed to be a weak dose. I'm not even positive it'll do anything."

Sonic scoffed at the man. "Yeah, do nothing but cause some of the most painful moments of my life." _Although_, he thought, _it was about on par with... nah, couldn't be. Dark Gaia was sealed away years ago, and he's not due to come out for eons. It couldn't be that_.

He glanced over at Shadow, looking closely at his scarlet eyes. As far as he knew, Shadow had no idea that a few years ago he turned into a beast at night. In fact, he didn't see Shadow at all during the time the Earth split open, which was just fine by him. _He barely tolerates me now. If he knew what I used to become, there's no way that he could ever..._ Sonic shook his head. That was years ago, and he wanted to move forward.

The black hedgehog looked a little perturbed by Sonic's staring, but the Ultimate Lifeform must have concluded that his blue friend was alright. "Let's leave this place," he declared, "and obviously, we'll leave the Professor here, given his true allegiances."

The Professor balked. "Wha-what are you saying?"

"It's pretty obvious that you're working with Eggman. You know too much about this substance to be an innocent bystander!"

The Professor scowled. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind," he pointed out, "Yes, I did design it, but I was going to try the experiments on feral animals in the safety of my own lab. I didn't ask to be kidnapped, and I didn't want anything like this to befall your friend. You can't just leave me here."

Sonic sighed. "I hate to say it, but he's right. Even if what he made did that to me, it wasn't his fault."

"Are you serious?" Shadow yelled, "You're going to risk your life for the person who could've ended yours?"

Sonic didn't answer, and he didn't need to. _Always the hero,_ Shadow thought to himself. "Fine," he bristled, "but if his extra weight proves to be a problem, then we drop him."

Sonic smiled. "Sounds good by me. Now let's get the heck outta here."

The two shared a glance as Shadow picked up the stick thin man, nodded, and took off at high speeds, failing to notice the malicious glint that was in the Professor's eye.

* * *

The constant pounding of Sonic's shoes against the floor mixed with the steady scraping of Shadow's skates for form a whirring sound. Shadow elected to carry the Professor because he thought that Sonic must be tired; after all, Sonic hadn't slept in over a day, and while Shadow hadn't either, he didn't need much sleep to function. The Professor was uncomfortable to carry, though. His bones dug into the Ultimate Lifeform's arms as he held on tight, not being used to such high speeds. _Don't this man ever eat?_ Shadow thought, shifting the man around in his arms. _Why does that faker even want to take him? This is so ludicrous._ He was thankful that getting out of the base was much easier than getting in had been, with the robots already destroyed. Fighting with this dead weight in his arms would make things rather difficult.

Still, he respected Sonic's wishes. He was still angry at himself for trusting the Doctor with Sonic. I just took him at his word. I could say I was tired, that I wasn't thinking clearly, that I was emotionally involved. But it doesn't change anything. The black hedgehog scowled at himself as he reached the edge of the base. "Where should we go now?" the black hedgehog asked, turning to his blue companion.

Sonic grinned and flashed him a thumbs up. "I figured we'd go to mine and Tail's place. He has all sorts of scientific equipment in the basement, so he should be able to help us find out what to do about that... stuff that you stuck in my arm."

The black hedgehog nodded in agreement. _At least he doesn't seem too angry about what happened,_ he thought thankfully, _even if I still am_. "Then let's hurry. And Sonic?"

"Yes, Shadow?"

"If you want to 'have fun' so badly, I'll race you there."

Sonic grinned back at him. _He's so cute when he smiles_, Shadow thought abruptly, then immediately shoved the thought out of his head. "Alright then," the blue hedgehog said, "An exhausted speed runner and an Ultimate Lifeform with extra weight. This should be interesting."

Shadow let out a small grin. "May the best hedgehog win."

* * *

And so, the two of them took off, leaving nothing but blue and black blurs behind them. For hours, they pressed the limits of their legs, moving at speeds to fast that it took every ounce of their concentration not to run into anything. Every once in a while, Sonic would sneak a side glance at Shadow. _He seems pretty happy with himself,_ he thought. _I don't get it. Just yesterday, he was attacking me, but today... _Sonic didn't understand the black hedgehog. He was more similar to him than anyone else he knew; Shadow had the same speed, the same determination, and, much as Sonic didn't want to admit it, they both had troubled pasts. But at the same time, he was an enigma. Shadow never said a thing if something was wrong and mostly kept to himself. Nobody knew much about him, but Sonic imagined that it must be lonely.

Why do I care? It's sad, but... as much as I want to, if Shadow doesn't let me in, I can't force him.

Still, for the rest of the race, Sonic couldn't help but feel a certain sadness. _Once this is done,_ he decided, _I want to tell him everything. Why I left so suddenly yesterday, why I don't talk to him as much as I should, why I'm so eager whenever I see him. Or is it even worth it?_

* * *

In the late afternoon, when they were beginning to feel the effects of fatigue, they saw the house in the distance, nothing standing in the way but green hills and the fading light of the blue sky. The two hedgehogs were panting hard, the Professor clinging for dear life and twitching from shock, as they went in for the final stretch. After hours of almost silence, Shadow and Sonic yelled as their legs buckled under the pressure of the final sprint. Shadow had visibly strained as he pulled ahead, leaning forward into the wind. But Sonic yelled for another reason entirely, suddenly coming to a stop. Shadow had reached the house first before his knees gave way and the Professor tumbled out of his arms.

"I won, faker," Shadow said with an air of pride, but when he turned around any happiness he may have been given from his win seemed to drain from his face.

Sonic was on all fours, feeling something in him begin to stir. It was as though his blood itself were bubbling and shifting, a dire warning of things to come. _This feeling again, _Sonic thought, why is it so familiar?

"Sonic!" Shadow cried out, "What's going on?" The black hedgehog began to approach his racing opponent.

"Stop!" Sonic yelled, lifting his hand to keep Shadow away. But when he looked at it, he noticed the flesh of his hand was shifting underneath his glove. _Wait a minute, it couldn't be..._ His hand grew too large for the glove, tearing through it to reveal grey blue fur and new, sharp claws.

"So this is what you meant by me knowing at sundown, isn't it?" the hedgehog growled at the Professor, but he noticed that even as he spoke his throat shifted, making his voice deeper, more animalistic. _I thought I'd never have to do this again, _he thought, but soon the pain spread beyond his blood to his entire body, every inch changing. He screamed, his eyes shedding involuntary tears, and he inwardly asked for it all to just end.

"What's happening to him?" Shadow was saying, concerned.

"This is the effect that Dark Gaia has on a pure soul," the Professor answered, "which, apparently, my formula can replicate."

"Why would you make something like that?"

"I was being paid. This isn't my typical field, you know. I wanted to study the Chaos emeralds, but I couldn't dream of getting my hands on them unless I worked with Eggman."

"So this was all about payment for you? You knew this could've happened!"

"The probability of Sonic having a pure soul in addition to being a channel for Chaos energy was extremely slim. I thought he would be like most people and just act like he was drunk."

"Does that look like he's drunk to you?"

Sonic twitched and writhed, the pain slowly fading away into a dull throb, and he sighed in relief before passing out in the form of a Werehog.

**((Yay, the fun part! I had to put this up a day early because I am spending four hours tomorrow morning taking a final exam and all afternoon and evening in airports trying to get home. I'm sure nobody minds. Actually, a lot more people are reading this than I expected them too.))**


	6. Long Conversations and Plans Being Made

**CHAPTER SIX: Long Conversations and Plans Being Made**

**((The following chapter is almost entirely dialogue, which I suck at writing and hate reading. However, after this it's only fun stuff for a while, and this just finishes establishing context. Please bear with me and tell me what I can do better. Up a day early again because internet is spotty and I'll take advantage of it while I can.))**

Tails heard the doorbell ringing from the basement, where he was repairing a piece of the Tornado. _I hope that's Sonic, _he thought, but deep down he knew that it probably wasn't. For one, Sonic probably wouldn't ring the doorbell to his own house. More likely, he would just walk in, opening the door quickly, and prop his feet up on the coffeetable, yelling that he was home.

The young fox stood out of his chair, placing a wrench on the table and turning to the television on the far wall. Ever since he got the message from Eggman and Sonic left, Tails used what had become a typical procedure; he would go to the basement, which doubled as a bomb shelter, turn on the news in case any reports came in, and bide his time by working at the desk until further notice. He hated being cooped up, but without the Tornado in use, Tails couldn't keep up with Sonic, and in this matter, time was of the essence.

Tails wasn't useless by any stretch. In fact, in terms of mechanical engineering and academic work, Tails was a prodigy, on par with graduate level students when most kids his age were still getting the hang of basic algebra. In fact, his work as a research assistant provided most of the house's income. When he wasn't analyzing something under a microscope, he was reverse engineering one of Eggman's robots or building one of his own. Time and time again, the machines he made helped Sonic and company escape a dire situation. But when it came down to it, he was just a kid, and therefore, he was vulnerable. And Sonic was nothing if not protective of his friends.

He sighed, switching off the television and pressing the intercom button on the wall. "I'll be right there," he said, a small quiver in his voice. He climbed the stairs slowly. _Please don't let it be Eggman, please don't let it be Eggman_, he hoped to himself, though that possibility was also slim; if it were Eggman, the place would be swarmed with robots. When he opened the door, the realization that it was not, in fact, Eggman, was instantaneous, which relieved him for a moment before processing who was actually behind the door instead. "Shadow?" the young fox boy asked, "What's that big furry thing in your arms?"

Shadow blushed involuntarily. "You probably won't believe me, but this is Sonic," the black hedgehog answered. "Doctor Eggman did something to him." Upon closer inspection, it did appear to be Sonic. But not the Sonic he knew. No, this was Sonic like he was years ago, during worldwide turmoil.

Tails looked beyond Shadow to see the wheezing Professor on all fours. "What's he doing here?" Tails said with a small bite of anger, "Didn't he do this?"

Shadow shook his head solemnly. "It is his, and the Doctor's, and my doing, though I think only the Doctor actually wanted this outcome."

"I don't want him in my house!" Tails said, spreading his arms, legs, and tails out to block the door, "That man is a horrible person. What he did to all those Mobians... what he did to Sonic..."

"Sonic was the one who asked me to bring him here." Tails looked at Shadow with surprised eyes before the black hedgehog continued. "If it were up to me I would've left him back at Eggman's base. But he wouldn't let me."

It didn't surprise Tails at all. Sonic always tried to do the right thing, even if it wasn't convenient or practical. But to help that man, when he himself was in such bad condition, was another story. "I don't know."

"Please, young man," the Professor pleaded, "I know what I have done, but I honestly have no other place to go."

Tails looked into the man's eyes, and he saw his saddened face. He couldn't help but feel a certain amount of pity; though he obviously had seen a lot more battle and hardship than someone his age normally would, he was still a child at heart, and something in him wanted to help this poor man.

He turned to face Shadow, who was still holding Sonic- or whatever Sonic had turned into- in his arms. "Is he still alive?" he asked hesitantly.

Shadow looked down into the ball of fur, his eyes softening. "Yes, he is still alive. Not concious at the moment, and I don't know how much of his sensibilities he has in this form, but he's alive."

Tails sighed, glad that his closest friend was at least somewhat okay. "Fine," he said, turning to the Professor, "You're allowed to stay. But if you touch any of my equipment or any of us even once, you're going back outside."

The Professor dropped his shoulders in relief. "Grazie, grazie," he responded enthusiastically, smiling with relief and fiercely shaking the fox's hand.

"But I have one condition."

"Whatever you want, I will do it. I swear."

"You have to help us change him back."

Once inside the house, Shadow put Sonic gently onto the couch, taking great care to not wake him. He let go of the now dark blue hedgehog and took a few steps back, taking a moment to look at what was now before him. Sonic no longer had the bright blue fur or the . _I'm supposed to be scared right now, _he thought, _but he looks so... fluffy._ He recalled after picking him up that Sonic's spines had been replaced with soft fur, but at the moment he was too preoccupied to notice. _I wonder if it's okay to touch him...just for a moment._ Shadow's face flushed. _Stop it! You were going to leave him behind, remember? Besides, this is definitely not the time for that. He's not even conscious, you idiot._

"Shadow?"

The black hedgehog turned his head and saw Tails, looking very worried. "I think he's going to be fine. I'm hoping this is just because of a lack of sleep."

This confession didn't seem to ease Tail's worries, but the young fox nodded back at him. "Well we won't know for sure until he wakes up, anyway. We should really start making a plan to reverse the effects."

The young fox and the black hedgehog walked over to the kitchen table, where Professor Crudele was already sitting, a cup of hot tea in front of him. "So what is it that you need me to tell you?" the Professor asked of them.

Shadow slammed his hands on the table. "For starters, why did Sonic turn into that... thing."

"I believe I can explain that one," Tails said. Shadow's eyes widened. What is that kid talking about? "A few years ago," the fox continued, "do you remember how the world split open and everybody was acting really strangely at night?"

"I remember the world splitting, but as for people acting strangely, I'm afraid I wouldn't know. I don't remember nights from back then too clearly."

_It figures, _Tails thought, _Shadow always gets amnesia at the worst of times._ "Well, back then, the entire world was effected by fragments of a primordial force called Dark Gaia."

"What?" Shadow snapped. Dark Gaia... that's what the Professor had said earlier. But he hadn't understood what the man had been saying. "Are you saying everyone was like this?"

Tails crossed his arms. "People didn't transform at night, if that's what you're talking about. At least, not like that," he said gesturing to Sonic.

The Professor took a sip from his tea. "That is correct. I've been studying the effects of Dark Gaia in conjunction with Chaos energy. I hypothesized- and I was correct- that normal people, with minimal control over Chaos energy, would only be effected in behavior. However, a being like Sonic, who can channel and use Chaos energy through his body, has a special property that causes him to transform."

Tails continued off of the Professor, "And if this kind of transformation is anything like last time, he should still have control over his actions." _Last time?_Shadow thought. _So this did happen before._

The Professor nodded. "Yes. As I recall, a soul that is completely pure can resist the effects Dark Gaia may have on the mind. The ancient texts referred to it as light banishing the darkness."

Shadow stirred. "But then why does he still change? And if Dark Gaia was linked to the earth splitting open, why doesn't it still effect the planet?"

The Professor sighed. "I'm afraid it's my fault. You see, when the earth closed again, all the fragments of Dark Gaia were consolidated and sealed back inside the planet. All except for one."

Tails and Shadow flinched in surprise. This was news to the both of them.

"The piece that was given to me was approximately of the same use to Dark Gaia as a sliver of hair, so minuscule it didn't even matter. It was only by sure luck that the Doctor found such a rare specimen."

Tails and Shadow looked at each other. Lucky, the black hedgehog thought, or aided by a rift in the universe that gave him as much time as he needed to look. The hedgehog scowled. "And you chose do research on this substance anyway? It's dangerous! You could have hurt someone! And now you did."

The Professor glared at Shadow. "I never thought he was going to actually use something like this on Sonic. This new form actually gives him added strength and the ability to elongate his limbs at will. It makes him a very formidable foe. I thought the Doctor wanted to inject himself with it to get the added strength he saw in Sonic, and I obliged knowing that the most he would get is violent mood swings. I did not want this to befall your friend."

Tails grew angry. "How am I supposed to believe you when you experimented on hundreds of Sapients like me?"

The Professor grew quiet. "That was several years ago. You have no idea what's it's like to be under so much pressure to get results, to get published. It consumes your life. After I was fired from Spagonia University, I realized just how erratic my actions were."

"You liar!" Tails yelled, "No amount of pressure is worth doing something like that to innocent people. All of those creatures suffered, and now you want me to believe..."

"Enough, Tails," Shadow interrupted. "We need to let the man help us. I know better than anyone what it's like to be the subject of experiments against your will, but this man's research may be the key to helping Sonic." Shadow closed his eyes. All throughout his youth on the ARK, he was constantly watched, injected, poked, prodded, and measured in the name of science. At times, he used to consider just breaking out of the ARK, letting himself fall and burn in the atmosphere, making it end. But his moments with Maria were enough for him to want to stay alive. And as for the men who experimented on him, in the end, when they fell, their faces were filled with the same regret and sadness.

Shadow shook his head, clearing himself of the memories. _That was the past_, he determined, _and I need to focus what's at stake now_. "Professor," he said, "I'll have you know that you will still receive consequences for your actions. But for the moment, if you will help us, we need you."

Professor Crudele set his cup down on the table. "I will. As I was about to say, the sliver of Dark Gaia faded quickly after prolonged separation from its source, but I analyzed it thoroughly enough in the time I had to create a very similar substance. It behaves in much the same way that Dark Gaia does, but unlike the actual substance, it does not want to consolidate with natural Dark Gaia, but with more artificial substances."

Shadow was annoyed. "How does that help us at all?"

"It means," the Professor said, "at least according to my theory, that the artificial substance in your friend will react the same way Dark Gaia did when the Chaos Emeralds were gathered."

Tails lit up, hopeful. There just might be a cure after all. "That's right! When the emeralds gathered last time, Sonic lost the Werehog form after he turned Super Sonic."

Shadow turned and looked at him in agreement. "So if we gather all the emeralds," he concluded, "we can cure Sonic of the Werehog."

Suddenly, Shadow heard a stirring from the other end of the room. "If that's true," a gravelly voice continued, "then we have some searching to do." Shadow turned to face the voice, and he saw that it had come from was Sonic; awake, well, and despite all appearances, just as confident as ever. The large wolf- hedgehog hybrid seemed even bigger when he was standing up; his arms were as thick as tree trunks, and Shadow could see his muscles even through the fur. Fangs poked out of his mouth, and the claws on his hands looked like they could slice through concrete. But his eyes... they were the same emerald green as before. There was something about those eyes that made Shadow's stomach jump. They were just so...

He shook his head. _Get your head straight, idiot. This is not the time to have your head in the clouds._ "Sonic, we still don't know what kind of effect this... form has on your body. I think you need to see a doctor to check your system for anything that could cause you harm."

The Professor stood up. "We don't have time for a lengthy examination process right now." The Professor ambled by the window of in the kitchen, looking up into the night sky. "Sonic is to receive a second inoculation on the night of the full moon, when the currently very weak essence of Dark Gaia will have adjusted to its host. Sonic may be able to survive one dose, but two doses would either kill him or overpower him."

Shadow stirred. "What do you mean, overpower him?"

The Professor sat back down. "Quite simple, really," he said, taking one last sip of tea. "Sonic would be lost to the beast."

**((God, I hate writing dialogue, and this chapter was full of it, but now that everything is established, I can write the fun stuff. Adventure! Intrique! Romance! Horror! All that jazz.**

**Reviews are always appreciated, 500%, so please leave a note.))**


	7. Who You Are Inside

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Who You Are Inside**

**((This chapter is short because I was at LeakyCon this past weekend and therefore writing mostly very bad Harry Potter fanfiction which I may or may not actually put online. In addition to general geekery, I also went to some panels on fanfic and slash fic that gave me some new ideas. So in a few chapters, those ideas will come into play.**

**Sadly, though, the internet here is spotty, so if I don't update on time, I'm sorry. I'll update when I get the internet to work, which may or may not be twice a week.**

**And now, for the chapter.))**

Doctor Eggman was grinning to himself as he sat in a chair in his base, looking at one of his many monitors. Upon it was footage from a few years ago, all Sonic fighting in his Werehog form. "I must say, I even surprise myself sometimes at my sheer brilliance! The idea of replicating the effects of Dark Gaia on Sonic is one of my best plans yet!"

Orbot looked at the Doctor, his mechanical eyes half shut. "But Doctor, didn't Sonic eventually escape the facility with Shadow, destroying all your security robots?"

Doctor Eggman turned his head to face his robotic companion. "You don't think I realize that? In fact, I'm glad Shadow came when he did. I wasn't entirely sure how I'd get Sonic to hold still long enough to inject him with the stuff, but then I didn't even have to."

"He still escaped, sir. And he seems to still have control over his personality."

"It's not as though he can do much about his situation now anyway. Besides, I don't have the resources to keep Sonic locked up for almost a whole month. My energy bill would go through the roof!"

Orbot let out a robotic sigh. "You were using Chaos Energy to contain him."

"A difficult task, I might add."

"So your energy bill would probably not be..."

Eggman slammed his fist down on an empty spot on the control panel. "Will you stop that? Honestly, this is how I get thanked for programming you in the first place. I should dissassemble you and use you for spare parts."

Cubot came up to the Doctor, "You know, you always say that to me, but you never actually do it. I'm beginning to wonder if it's all empty threats to you."

"Silence, the both of you." The Doctor rubbed his forehead. "The fact of the matter is, he escaped because I wanted him too. You see, there is more to this plan than meets the eye."

"Such as?"

The Doctor smiled, his crooked teeth showing. "As we speak, Sonic is looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Once he gathers all of them, he will likely return here, aiming to stop me. Instead of gathering them myself, I can have my nemesis do it for me. And when he gets here," he clapped his hands together, "I'll have all the Chaos Emeralds and an evil Sonic at my disposal. Eggmanland will become a reality, and I'll rule the world!"

"But how will we know he's gathering the Emeralds?" Cubot inquired.

The Doctor turned back to the screen, pressing a button on the dashboard. Sonic the Werehog was replaced with a view of the inside of the hero's house.

"I have a man on the inside."

Sonic was sick of talking, sick of sitting, sick of waiting around. Despite the Professor's urging that there was little time to spare, Tails still insisted on at least getting fur and blood samples (the fur, Sonic didn't mind so much, but the blood sample took a long time to get because "I've had enough needles for one day"), as well as giving Sonic a communicator so Tails could keep in touch with him. The whole process of poking, prodding, and preparing took a few hours, but the moment Tails said he located the first Chaos emerald, Sonic rushed out the door.

The night air greeted the werehog like an old friend. Sonic took a deep breath of air, fighting the sudden but faint urge to howl. _I may look like one, but I'm no dog,_ he decided, _so I better not act like one_.

He was just about to start running when he heard the door to the house open and close behind him. "You may want to mind your strength," a deep voice commented. "The doorknob was bent."

Sonic turned around to see Shadow adjusting his gloves. His heart skipped a beat upon seeing him there, though he couldn't quite place why. "What are you doing?" Sonic said, trying and failing to make his voice sound normal.

Shadow finished adjusting his gloves and walked closer to Sonic. "I'm going with you," he stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But why?"

The black hedgehog tensed up a bit. _Was that a blush on his face?_ Sonic wondered. No, it can't be. I'm seeing things. It's dark out. It would make sense.

"Because," the black hedgehog said, "I can't exactly trust you on your own, especially like this."

Sonic looked at the ground. _He can't trust me?_ The thought stung. Shadow...

"Besides," he continued, avoiding eye contact, "I don't want you to get hurt." The words were spoken with a soft tenderness, and Sonic knew that the Ultimate Lifeform was telling the truth. _But I don't want him to see me when I'm like this,_ Sonic inwardly panicked. _I don't want him to see me as a monster._

Trying desperately to cover his tracks, Sonic turned his back on Shadow. "We-well, I don't need your help with this. I can do it on my own."

"Sonic!" The Ultimate Lifeform yelled, but Sonic had already started to run away.

Sonic smirked at first, but after a few moments, he realized after a few steps that this body, which was nowhere near as aerodynamic as his real body, had a tendency to trip over itself. The massive paws and muscles on his arms made them hard to move with his steps, resulting in accidentally hitting himself many times in a row.

He heard the scratching sound of Shadow's hoverskates getting louder and louder, and his heart began to race. _Forget my dignity, _Sonic thought, _I just need to get away. He can't see me like this._ Sonic transitioned to what disturbingly felt more natural, running on all fours. His arms stretched out and pulled the werehog further, making him go faster than before, but it still wasn't enough._ Darn it, I'm too slow like this,_ Sonic admitted. _Maybe I'm faster than the average person like this, but compared to Shadow, I can barely run at all. _He began to slow down, resigning himself to this fact. He had forgotten about how slow everything felt, but it didn't matter so much back then; at night, he only changed up his fighting style. But up against Shadow, where speed counted, he lost. It was maddening.

Sonic had come to a full stop now, realizing the implications of what he just did. _It was that easy to make me act like an animal, huh. Just a twinge of fear was all it took._ He turned his head and saw Shadow, who was now up next to him, bearing a sad look in his eyes. "Shadow," the werehog said, "I really am a monster, aren't I?" He tried to make it sound like a joke, but his voice cracked in the middle. Sonic hated this. He hated all of it.

Shadow grabbed Sonic's hand (er, paw) and started to drag him down a ways. "Whoa, man, what are you doing?" Sonic said, disturbed that he could barely keep up with his former rival. Shadow didn't answer until, after almost a mile, the two came upon a pool of water. "Walk over to the water, Sonic," the black hedgehog said gruffly.

Sonic flinched, but he obliged, slowly stepping towards the edge. "What is this about, Shadow?"

"Look down at your reflection," he asked, "And tell me, what color are your eyes?"

The hero glanced down, seeing himself in the gently waving water. "They're green. Same as always."

He looked up to see Shadow nodding. "There's a famous saying that eyes are the windows to the soul. They reflect our fears, our hopes, our courage. Now look again. Are the eyes you see the eyes of a monster?"

Sonic froze. _What is Shadow trying to say to me?_ he wondered. _I thought he hated me. I thought he would be scared. _The black hedgehog waited a minute, and then grabbed his arm again. "You said it yourself. They're the same as always. _You're_ the same as always. You have the same ambition and tenacity that you always have, the same drive to help others, the same inherant goodness inside of you. Don't you dare call yourself a monster. If anyone here is a monster, it's..." Shadow stopped suddenly, as though trying to stop himself from sharing a terrible secret. "Well, anyway. There isn't any time for inane prattle. Do you have the coordinates for the first Chaos Emerald?"

Sonic came back to life, looking at Shadow. "Tails sent them on the communicator a few minutes ago. I was actually on my way there." He took out the communicator and showed the screen to Shadow, a blinking red light near their apparent destination. Shadow seemed surprised. "That's..."

"You're familiar with that place?"

"How could I not be? That's my house!"

**((This chapter was slightly shorter again, but I thought if I added much more to it, it would lose impact. Anyway, I think Shadow and Sonic are being adorable, but they need to get some action. What do you think they should do? Put some suggestions in the reviews. I'm only a few chapters ahead of this point in writing, and I have a feeling you might have some good ideas.))**


	8. A Yellow Emerald to Guide the Way

**CHAPTER EIGHT: A Yellow Emerald to Guide the Way**

**((The internet got fixed, so I'm back to the Wednesday/Saturday schedule for the rest of the month.))**

Rouge once again arrived home after a day of working at GUN. Lately, all they had her do was paperwork, as there was nothing warranting her involvement in terms of missions at the moment. It felt like a waste of time to her, but it paid the bills, and that's all that counted. "Shadow?" she yelled as she opened the door, only to see all the lights turned off, everything unmoved since that morning. She sighed. When she had woken up this morning, Shadow had already been gone. She guessed that he left in the middle of the night, probably on another journey to "find himself" or some other nonsense. She wasn't too worried; he did this a lot, and usually he came back within a few days. Still, it was lonely to have this big house all to herself, and Shadow was surprisingly good company.

She flew over to the kitchen and took out a tea kettle, beginning to heat some water. Some tea would be just the thing during a quiet night in...

Suddenly, she heard a knocking, and then some yelling coming from outside. She recognized one of the voices as Shadow's, but the other was deep and gravelly. _Shadow's not normally one for making new friends_, she thought, bracing herself for the sounds of fighting coming outside the house. Instead, she heard the door open, Shadow entering the house with a giant... wolf? "Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on here?" Rouge complained. "This is still my house, you know, and I don't like the look of that guy! He could shed on the carpet."

The wolf stirred, an twinge of sadness sweeping across his face. "So you really don't recognize me like this," the wolf mumbled. The comment confused Rouge. _He does look sort of familiar,_ she thought, _but I haven't met any wolves before. _She took a moment to take in the creature's wide muscular arms and shaggy mane. _At least, none that looked like that_.

"We don't have time for this," Shadow grumbled to the wolf. The Ultimate Lifeform turned to Rouge and asked calmly, "Rouge, where are you keeping the Chaos Emerald?"

_Darn, I've been caught,_ she realized. "I don't know what you're talking about," she attempted to lie, but Shadow cut her off.

"Don't be cute with me. I know the Emerald's here. We have its energy signal locked on, and it shows it as being in the house. I certainly didn't take it."

Rouge scoffed. "Fine. Guilty. But why should I give it to you?" The black hedgehog and his furry acquaintance exchanged a glance, but Rouge took no note of it. "All the world's jewels are mine, and I found it fair and square."

"You mean you took it!" Shadow interrupted.

She laughed at him. "Since when you you care about the morality of what I do? The fact is that it's mine, and I'm not telling you where it is."

The wolf walked up to her, putting an arm on her shoulder. "Please, Rouge," he said with a deep sincerity, "It's hard to explain, but..."

She slapped his arm off, prompting a worrisome look from the wolf. "And not another word from you, you giant furball. Why should I care what you think?"

Shadow yelled and pinned Rouge to the wall. The wolf's eyes widened, and he yelled out, "Shadow, stop! Rouge is a friend!" The bat choked, Shadow's arm up against her neck. "Shadow... what are you..." she said between coughs, but he wasn't letting her have it.

"That 'furball'," he shouted at her, "is Sonic, and if we don't get all the emeralds soon, he could die!"

_What?_ She was shocked. _That thing was Sonic?_ "She gets it, Shadow. Put her down!" the gravelly voice yelled. Shadow tensed for a moment, then scowled as he put Rouge down. _It has to be Sonic,_ she concluded. _He's the only one Shadow would listen to._ She put her hands on her throat, gasping for air. "Oh my God..." she whispered, slowly getting her voice back. "So... it really is Big Blue in there, huh?"

The wolf puffed up his chest. "The one and only," he said proudly, showing his telltale confidence.

The bat was finally breathing steadily again. "It's obvious something terrible has happened. Normally I wouldn't give up one of the precious emeralds, but," she said, glancing at Shadow, "if it really is such a dire circumstance, I won't stand in your way." She gestured with her whole hand to the stairs. "The emerald is in my dresser, second shelf from the top. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it."

The black hedgehog nodded his head, and in a flash he had already left. Sonic and Rouge stood alone awkwardly for a moment, until Rouge let out a coy smile. "Tell me, Sonic," she said, "Just how does a twerp like you turn into a thing like that?"

* * *

One of the reasons that Shadow never wanted to go into Rouge's room is because it was always extremely filthy. There were clothes and papers strewn about everywhere; he couldn't even see the floor through all of her things. _Just because she can fly doesn't give her an excuse to leave her things strewn about the floor_. Shadow scowled. Maybe it was his upbringing in the military strictness of the ARK, but he always made a strong effort to keep everything in its place. Clothes in the closet (though there weren't many), hoverskates on a placemat near the door, and books on the bookshelf, strictly sorted by genre, then author. He didn't own much other than those three things, but given how little of his time he spent at the house, the spartan conditions didn't bother him so much. He didn't need much of anything.

_She said that the Chaos Emerald was in the dresser, second drawer from the top..._ In retrospect, he probably should have guessed that. The black hedgehog recalled that when he first moved in, that was where she said to store his valuables. "It's an old thief's trick," she had said, "to go from the bottom drawer to the top when you're stealing things. That way you don't waste time opening and shutting drawers when the owners could return at any minute. But some people will just want to grab something fast and go for the top drawer first, so anything important should go in the second drawer down." Of course, Shadow paid no mind to such things, as he didn't own anything especially valuable and Rouge had a state of the art security system anyway. He kicked himself for not paying more attention back then. The Ultimate Lifeform was supposed to have near unparalleled intellect, in addition to his near invulnerability and physical excellence, but apparently that didn't mean he remembered everything.

He tiptoed across the bedroom, trying to only step on clothes that seemed dirty anyway, and after a few minutes of the extremely awkward stepping he reached her dresser. _Second from the top,_ he reminded himself, but when he opened it he couldn't help but groan. The entire drawer was filled with gems. Rubies, amethysts, diamonds, almost any kind of precious rock would be in that drawer. _I wonder how many of these she actually just 'found,'_ he brooded, but quickly returned to task. He thought, at first, that it would be hard to find the Chaos Emerald in the drawer's, well, chaos. But when he reached his hand in the drawer, he felt the light tug of Chaos Energy reacting to his body. Shadow glanced in the upper left corner, and there it was; a large, shining yellow Chaos Emerald, lighting up as if to make Shadow' job easier. The black hedgehog picked up the Emerald, and he could feel the Chaos Energy moving by his arm. _I hope this does work, Sonic,_ he thought, _because if we're going to look for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, it will be a long and arduous journey._

Shadow closed the drawer and repeated his awkward dance across the room, feeling like a fool until he reached the door and went downstairs. There, he saw Rouge alone. "Where did Sonic go?" the black hedgehog asked."

"I sent him to get supplies for your trip. From what he said, you guys have a long road ahead of you."

Shadow turned his head, avoiding eye contact and not responding. The bat suddenly got serious. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Shadow? A few days ago, you couldn't even go to his birthday party because or how you felt. If you go with him now, you'll be around him constantly for the next month. It won't just be fighting. You'll have to eat and sleep together as well."

"What's your point?" the black hedgehog asked pointedly.

Rouge sighed. "I just know that if I were around someone I cared about so much all the time, knowing nothing would happen... It would be soul crushing. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into."

Shadow turned back to Rouge. "I appreciate your concern," he began, "but if I don't go and something happens to him because he isn't used to his form, or because he can't gather the emeralds in time, it will have been my fault." Shadow was already filled with regret over his past. How he could've saved Maria, how he hurt innocent people, how he came so close to helping Black Doom. If Sonic were added to the list, it might just be enough to crush him.

Rouge seemed to understand this on some level because she nodded. Almost as if on cue, Sonic returned with two ragged bags in his arms. "I'm sorry that took so long," he grumbled, "I can't run very fast, and it turns out that when people see a werehog in the store, they don't assume it wants to shop." The dark blue werehog put the bags on the table to reveal a first aid kit, two blankets, some basic cooking supplies, and a water bottle. "Tails made the communicator so it could hold a certain amount, and Shadow has that leather bag I saw him with earlier, so between the two of us we could carry all this." Shadow panicked. The gift, he worried. To his horror, the werehog had stretched his arm out to grab the bag from the other end of the table and attempted to open it.

Shadow hastily snatched the bag away. "I can pack the supplies myself," he attempted to say confidently, hastily turning the bag in such a way that the flap hid the gift from sight. Sonic looked surprised, but said nothing at the sudden outburst. Rouge, however, stifled a laugh. _Oh, shut up,_ he thought.

"In any case," Sonic replied, "Now that we have the Chaos Emerald, we should put it in the communicator."

Shadow lifted an eye ridge. "Why do we need to put it there?" he inquired.

The werehog smirked, revealing one of his large fangs. "Tails has worked with the Chaos Emeralds before, so he configured it to use the energy to boost the signal. He said that somehow the Emeralds , but his techno babble is all Greek to me."

Shadow nodded, walking over to the device, which was at Sonic's end of the table. He placed the Emerald inside, and almost immediately, the screen lit up. "It looks like it's already getting a signal," Sonic remarked, "coming from just west of Apotos." The hero stood up; it was obvious that he wanted to get going immediately, though Shadow didn't know if it was because the werehog knew he would take much longer traveling in this form, or if the punk was just antsy.

"You head out and start heading towards Apotos. I'll finish things here and catch up with you."

Sonic scowled. "You just love being faster than me, don't you?" he mumbled to himself, but quickly returned to his pleasant demeanor as he went out the door, rushing out on all fours. Shadow winced after he left, seeing that the mutt had ruined yet another doorknob.

"What am I going to do with him?" Shadow grumbled.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. You'll have plenty of time for it anyway."

Shadow nodded. "I should probably leave. I don't trust Sonic on his own like this."

"Like an animal?" Rouge asked.

He shook his head. "He may not look it at the moment, but he's still Sonic. But being like this, having this dark part of him showing... it's wearing on him more than he lets on."

With a half smile, Rouge gestured towards the entrance, the door still open. "Then go after him," she pushed, "No use waiting around here."

Shadow nodded in reply and walked towards the door.

"Oh, and Shadow?" Rouge piped in once more.

"Yes?" he answered as he stepped outside.

"Don't get your heart broken."


	9. The Salt in the Breeze

**CHAPTER NINE: The Salt in the Breeze**

Back at Sonic and Tails's house, the two tailed fox kit had just gone to bed after all the excitement and surprise of the afternoon, while the Professor stayed awake. The two of them were exhausted; they had prepped the samples taken from Sonic for observation and recorded primary measurements of cell counts, HP levels, and concentration of artificial Dark Gaia in the substances. The fox had analyzed the evidence very thoroughly, as though this were common procedure for him, but by the end of it he met the limitations of his body. He was still young, after all.

The Professor would've very much liked to go to bed too, as the night was already half over, but was kept awake by a constant ache in his head._That boy really is something special, _the Professor thought to himself, _understanding such complicated procedures at his age. Brilliance like that only comes once or twice in a generation. Perhaps, if I could gain his trust after all of this is over, I could hire him as a research assistant._ He walked back into the basement lab, holding a rail as he descended the stairs. _But then again, I may not be worth his trust._

Professor Crudele switched on the television to see Doctor Eggman come into view. "Hello, Professor," the Doctor sneered, his mustache not even fitting in the frame.

"Doctor," the Professor replied sternly. "The subject has begun to search for the Chaos Emeralds, but he has a device attached to him that tracks his location."

The Doctor frowned. "One of those gadgets the child made, I suppose. His mechanical skill begins to rival my own. Getting through security will be tough."

"He has it on password, Doctor. You need not worry."

"Ah yes. What is the password?"

"West Island, all one word."

The Doctor suddenly became nostalgic. "Ah yes, I remember it well. It was where they met, wasn't it? Can't quite recall why I was there, though."

"Perhaps to ruin some innocent lives with your robotosizer."

Doctor Eggman scowled. "You're certainly in no position to lecture me, Professor, no matter how you look at it."

The thin pale man cast his gaze on the floor. After a moment, he stammered, "W-well in any case, I attempted to keep them from running any tests on him that would indicate the serum's true nature, but the boy insisted on taking cursory samples."

"What kind of samples?" the Doctor inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Mostly harmless. Saliva, fur. I made sure to take full responsibility for monitoring the blood sample, as it is the only one that would arise any kind of suspicion."

Eggman laughed. "Oh, it is good work. Remember, Professor; you will keep me posted on any developments that occur, or you will receive the consequences."

With that note, the television blinked into black. The Professor raised his hand to feel the scar on the back of his head. "I doubt I will soon forget."

The smell of salt from the ocean breeze was the first indicator to Sonic that he was approaching Apotos._ It's all starting to come back to me. This was where it began all those years ago. _The werehog gazed into the distance and saw a windmill. It must've doubled as a lighthouse in the nighttime, as he saw a flickering light blue glow coming from its center. Apotos did border the sea, after all, so passing ships probably needed guidance towards the shore. _Well, I guess that's technically not true. I was on Eggman's spaceship when I first turned into the werehog. But this is where I wound up after I fell from the sky. _

"You're getting even slower than usual, faker."

Sonic turned his head to see Shadow staring at him. He had done his best to ignore the black hedgehog, but it was difficult to do so for a number of reasons, the reminded Sonic of his condition in a very evident way; though they were running side by side, Shadow was visibly holding back on his run. He was barely even jogging, really. Though there were definitely things about the werehog form that Sonic could use, it was his speed that he missed more than anything, so having Shadow be a constant reminder of the change didn't sit well with the hero at all.

Of course, that didn't even get into Sonic's anxieties about what Shadow thought about him like this. He furiously tried to push them aside, but the nagging feeling was still there. _I never cared what Shadow thought about me before, _he pondered, _so why do I care so much now? Granted, I never was a werehog in front of him, but somehow I think it runs deeper than that..._

But being Sonic, he pretended everything was just fine on the outside. He flashed a toothy grin as he replied, "Just enjoying the view, Shadow. 'Course you probably can't see in the dark very well, so it's kind of lost on you."

The black hedgehog merely scoffed at this. "Please. You forgot I have genetic material from Black Doom. I would think that a creature from deep space would provide me the ability to see in the dark rather well."

_Hmmm, he has even more than meets the eye_. Shadow, for all of his brooding and antisocial behavior, seemed normal enough that at times even Sonic forgot where he came from. Sonic wondered what else Shadow could do that hadn't been shared before, but he knew better than to ask.

"Then you can see the windmill up ahead, right?"

"Even if I didn't see the structure, I would've seen the flashes."

"I bet you we can stay there for the night. Or what's left of it, anyway."

The black hedgehog bristled. "You're not usually one for breaking into places that aren't Doctor Eggman's. Why the windmill?"

"If there's a light on there, it means that most likely it's hollow on the inside to allow for people to make repairs and change the frequency of the light. They might even have a bed or two in there. It's a public place, so it's not like we're crashing someone's house, and we won't be in any trouble unless we mess with the lights or make a scene."

Shadow nodded. "That actually displayed elements of intelligence. I'm somewhat impressed," he said flatly.

Sonic chuckled. "You don't sound it, though."

Shadow grunted, then pointed forward. "We're almost there," he remarked, ignoring Sonic's comment. "It can't be more than two hundred meters away from here."

Surely enough, they were getting close enough that the two of them could see the bricks lining the side of the windmill, and they could see the blades turning slowly. The wind wasn't strong that night, which Sonic was thankful for; when he was a hedgehog, a little wind couldn't effect him in the slightest, but bumbling as he was in his werehog form, a strong enough gust could make him lose balance or struggle to keep up speed. "So here it is, after all this time. Man, it seems like ages since I saw the windmills here for the first time." He slowed down, approaching the windmill.

Shadow glanced at the werehog, a curious expression crossing his face. "You have a history with this place?"

Smiling with nostalgia, Sonic putting his hand (er, paw) on the structure's stone. "I'm not entirely sure- after all there are a lot of windmills- but I think this is where I met Chip for the first time."

He could see the confused expression on the Ultimate Lifeform's face. Whoops, he laughed at himself, I guess Shadow really doesn't know much about what happened. "Chip," he explained before the black hedgehog could ask, "was actually Light Gaia, though we didn't realize it until the world was almost entirely put back together."

Shadow seemed started. "So there's a Light Gaia too?"

"Yeah. What made you think there wouldn't be?"

"I don't know, it just seems like all of these monsters and robots we go against like to give themselves extravagent names. After all, it's not like there's a White Doom out there, or an Order."

Sonic scratched his head. "An Order?"

"For Chaos," the black hedgehog said, lifting his palm to reach his head, as if baffled by stupidity.

"Oh. Well, regardless, Dark Gaia and Light Gaia have strength in the night and day, respectively. Dark Gaia is supposed to destroy the world, and Light Gaia rebuild it."

Shadow's eyes widened. "Did you kill this... Dark Gaia being?"

Sonic couldn't help it; he burst out laughing. "Oh no, there's no way to kill something like that. It's a primordial force, near God like, actually. The only reason I was able to calm him down was because I was Super Sonic AND had Light Gaia's help. He's back asleep now, along with Chip." Shadow paused for a moment, while Sonic felt around the wall. "Now where is that door..."

"But if they're near Godlike, how did you not realize who Light Gaia was?" Shadow inquired, joining Sonic in feeling the wall.

"They woke up prematurely. Eggman being stupid again. Dark Gaia couldn't hold up its own weight and scattered into pieces, infecting everyone. Chip was just tiny. They won't be fully grown for a few more millennia, so the world is safe for now." Suddenly, Sonic paused in his search. "I almost want to wake them up again. If anyone, Chip would know what to do right now. But I'm not about to risk the world over my own... body issues."

Soon he heard a jiggle, then the black hedgehog swearing under his breath. "I found the door, but it's locked, and since it's made out of stone, I can't knock it down."

The werehog sighed, then, suddenly angry wound up his thick arm like a baseball pitcher about to throw a fast ball. After taking a deep breath, he yelled as the arm snapped forward, stretching out as it smashed through the wall. Rubble flew everywhere, and when the dust finally cleared, there was a gaping hole in the side of the building. He panted as he calmed down, wondering where the urge to do that had come from, when the black hedgehog walked towards the hold in the door. "I know that you're strong, but try not to mess with the structural integrity of the place."

Sonic shook his head, not knowing what came over him, but didn't respond as he struggled through the hole. His arms made it a real chore, their girth even wider than that of his torso, until he pushed himself through, crumbling the wall even further in the process. Damn, he thought, thinking Shadow might be right about the issues of structural integrity, but continued inside the building anyway. He and Shadow climbed a ladder that was in the center of the windmill, as there was a complete absence of anything else in the building. "We're going to look for a bed, or a cot, or something along those lines, and then we're going to sleep through whatever's left of the night."

Bright red crept up on Sonic's face. "We're... sh-sharing a bed?"

If Sonic had looked closely enough, he probably would've seen Shadow's eyes quickly widen and his pupils contract. "N-n-no," he stammered, unlike himself, "You get the bed. You've only had, what, three hours of sleep over the last three days? I'm the Ultimate Lifeform. I don't technically need sleep. But if there's more than one, I certainly could indulge in some sleep myself."

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess," the werehog replied. _That's a relief, _he thought somewhat reluctantly._ Sleeping in the same bed as Shadow would be completely awkward and probably mess up this whole trip._

_So why do I kind of want to?_

He didn't have much time alone to his thoughts before Shadow yelled, "The Chaos Emerald!"

Surprised, the werehog stretched his arms to arrive at the top with Shadow faster. Sure enough, there were no beds, or cots, or even mechanical lights. However, there was the aqua Chaos Emerald, flickering its inner glow on and off, as if in excitement to see them.


	10. An Aqua Emerald to Conquer Fear

**CHAPTER TEN: An Aqua Emerald to Conquer Fear**

**((In case you couldn't tell already, this here fanfiction is going to be LONG. I've written drafts through chapter fifteen and I'm nowhere near close to done. So don't get worried if it takes a few more chapters for subtext to become, well, text. Trust me, when it happens, it happens with a bang.))**

If Sonic had any common sense at all, he would've thought this was all too easy for Sonic. As it was, he simply smiled at his good fortune. _First, the yellow one was at his house, and now the second emerald is just lying here, completely unguarded._ He stifled a laugh. It almost sounded too good to be true.

Probably because it was.

"Are we lucky or what, Shads? At this rate, I'll be back to normal in no time!" The blue hero grinned and made a thumbs up with his left paw.

Of course, his black companion only responded with his signature scowl. "I'm not sure if I like this. It feels like a setup."

Rolling his eyes, Sonic groaned. "Lighten up. Look," he said, walking over to the lighthouse, "this place has obviously not been entered in a long time. I'm not setting off any traps. And..." he said as he stretched out his arm and knocked on the podium holding up the Emerald, "the actual article isn't acting strange in the slightest. So why worry?"

Shadow still looked concerned, but simply shrugged. The werehog walked towards the podium, but after a few steps, he heard a creaking sound underneath him. When he was within a meter, the creaks turned into cracks, and the small pitter patter of rocks hitting the floor. "I hope that's not what I think it is," the black hedgehog worried. Then, there came a loud cracking sound, and the windmill started to shift.

"Oh no!" Sonic yelled out, "the building is falling apart!" The dull rumbling grew louder underneath them.

"This is what happens when you make giant holes in the structure without thinking! Not to mention throwing all that weight around. You aren't exactly tiny in this form," he heard Shadow yell.

"Well forgive me for thinking stone would be more solid! Plus I can't help the size of my body!"

"You still have to know how to use it! Honestly, how idiotic can you be?"

Sonic was about to answer him when the windmill suddenly started to fall seaward. In a panic, he stretched his arm towards the borders of the open window, clinging on to dear life. It was no secret that the hero was deathly afraid of water. Call it too many encounters with Eggman's purple liquid, call it never learning to properly swim, but he was terrified of the stuff. And if he didn't grab on in time, he would fall a long way into the largest body of water on earth.

He looked to the side and saw Shadow desperately trying to keep upright against the movement of the building. _Shadow can handle himself, _he tried justifying to himself, _no use letting go, he'll be just fine. He's the Ultimate Lifeform, there's no way he could possibly..._

At that moment, the building hit a ninety degree angle, and even the genetically engineered super hedgehog couldn't stand parallel. The black hedgehog started to fall, his eyes opening wide with surprise. And though he was definitely scared of even the most remote possibility of falling in the water, what was even worse to him was the thought of Shadow falling, possibly hitting jagged rocks or drowning. Letting go was simply a risk he had to take.

"Shadow!" Sonic called out, stretching his arm out to meet the black hedgehog midfall, catching him like he was a baby bird falling from a tree. Shadow at first seemed alarmed, but slowly was put at ease, gripping tightly to the giant hand. The windmill gave a final lurch, and the building was at last still, with the two dangling over the ocean. The two paused a moment before realizing it was the end of the movement.

Sonic was about to breath a sigh of relief when he heard a panicked Shadow yell, "The Chaos Emerald!" The werehog looked up and gasped as he saw the aqua Chaos Emerald slide off of its place in the podium and fall through the window. Shadow attempted to catch it, but unlike the werehog, his arms couldn't stretch, and the Emerald only lightly grazed his fingers before plummeting into the ocean, a small splash rippling out from the hitting point.

"There's nothing we can do about it right now. Let me just pull you up." Sonic began to lift Shadow towards the windmill, but he stopped when he felt a stirring in his arms. "Oh no, not now," he said aloud, looking at the horizon. "Did we really spend that much time getting here? How is it almost sunrise already?" Shadow's eyes opened wide, feeling the hero's arms shake, as the light of a brand new day peaked over the horizon.

Purple puffs of smoke began to surround him as the pain started again. The muscles began to twitch and writhe in anticipation. "Just hold on, Sonic," Shadow yelled over the screams, "No matter how much it hurts, just hold on. Can you do that?"

"I'll...try..." Sonic spoke through the pain, his arms contracting and narrowing. His fur retracted into the skin, and his claws rescinded into his hands. "I don't know if I can do it, Shadow, but I'll try!" he screamed. Even his bones grew smaller, and with the muscles smaller as they were clinging to the wall took every ounce of his comparatively diminished strength. A great wave of pain shook through the werehog's body, and the wisps of purple smoke grew thick around him, hurting his eyes. "Shadow...I'm sorry...I just... I can't..." He let out one last big howl. The transformation ended when, somehow, Sonic's gloves reappeared, but when the once again blue hero's vision was cleared of the purple smoke, he saw that one of the gloved hands was empty. Fearing the worst, the hero looked down to see a black ball with occasional streaks of red, growing smaller and smaller, until it vanished in the water.

* * *

When the black hedgehog felt himself literally slip through his companion's fingers, he braced himself for the impact. A giant splash erupted from the point of contact, and the ocean felt as cold as ice, eliciting shivers down the black hedgehog's body. _Damn it_, he thought, _I can't swim well at all, and I'm too deep in the water to reach the surface in time_. He scowled, tiny bubbles of air slipping through his teeth. It wasn't Sonic's fault for letting go, he reminded himself; with that kind of pain, it was a surprise he held on for as long as he did. But intentions, at this point, didn't matter; Shadow was losing air fast, and drowning was, in fact, one of the ways he could die. _I can't breathe. Sonic, you let go_. The black hedgehog drifted in the water. _You said you wouldn't._

A glint of light out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. _Is that..._ He turned to face the light, and when his vision came to focus, he saw that it was a Chaos Emerald. _That's it! If I can reach that Emerald, I can Chaos Control out of here! _The more he thought about it, the better an idea it seemed. _Not only could I save my life, but if I got that Emerald, then we wouldn't have to go back for it. We might still have a chance of getting all the Chaos Emeralds in time. We could still save Sonic!_

Taking as big of strokes as he could, Shadow fought against his buoyancy, going into the depths of the ocean. _I have to reach it. It's been sinking longer than me, but I'm heavier. That should weigh it out. Right?_ He pushed himself deeper and deeper into the water, the currents fighting him every step of the way._ And I'm supposed to have the most effective muscle structure in the universe. I may not be able to swim well, but I should be strong enough to get myself down there._

But his muscles grew more and more fatigued, the hopelessness of his situation dawned on him. _Who am I kidding?_ _I can't fight the tides. This is it. It's over. _The black hedgehog laughed to himself. _What a pathetic way to die. No bullet or disease can touch me, but once I'm in the water, it's useless. _Clenching his fists, he looked up at the surface. _If I am to die now,_ he thought, _I will die with dignity. I'm sorry, Sonic. I couldn't save you after all._

Suddenly, he heard a disturbance in the water, and white bubbles blurred his vision. _What the..._ He turned his head to look, and suddenly grew angry when he saw what broke the water. Though his sight was blurred by the water, he could clearly see a small cobalt ball sinking in the ocean. _Sonic, you idiot! Why would you come in after me? _Shadow couldn't swim very well, but at least he could do the basics. His blue companion was obviously out of his element, letting all of his air out almost immediately and flailing in panic, as though he just realized where he was. _Damn it, Sonic_, the black hedgehog thought, paddling up to him. _Now we're both going to die._ When he grabbed onto the blue hedgehog, Sonic stopped writhing in the water, clinging to Shadow. The extra weight helped him go through the water faster, but the black hedgehog couldn't help but pause for a moment. _He's so warm..._

Snapping out of his stupor, he kicked his legs hard, letting the two of them sink quickly in the water. He grinned when the Emerald was once more within reach. _We may just make it after all,_ he realized. Glancing at the now unconscious blue hedgehog, he gripped more tightly, their wet fur intermingling. _Though this isn't the way he intended to help, _he realized_, Sonic did, in a way, just save my life._ He adjusted his grip on the blue hedgehog to hold him with only hand, and with the other he grabbed the aqua Chaos Emerald. With the last of his held breath, he made a muffled cry through the water.

"Chaos Control!"

A light surrounded the two, and within moments a pulsing energy surrounded them, taking them back to the shore by the now overturned windmill. Sonic suddenly coughed and screamed, waking from his unconciousness. "Never, never again! Oh God! That was awful!"

Shadow silently was glad that Sonic was okay, but the reaction struck a nerve with him. "Why on earth did you go in the water if you knew you would end up like this?"

"I did it to save you, you idiot!"

Shadow froze. _But he's terrified of water! He won't even go in a kiddie pool._ His face flushed._ I can't believe he did something like that to save me._ "S-Sonic, I-"

"I saw you fall in the water, and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't just let you drown, could I? I don't want to live a life without-"

Sonic suddenly stopped, getting a hold of his senses. "But you don't really get it. I wasn't screaming because I was scared of the water."

Shadow was dying to hear what Sonic was really going to say, but he recovered from the emotional moment with a small huff. "Oh really? Then why were you screaming? I see no other explanation"

The blue hedgehog wheezed, straightening himself up. "I don't know why, I don't know how, and I don't understand it but... Shadow, when you induced Chaos Control, and we came up here... it hurt!"


	11. The Conspiracy

CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Conspiracy

"What do you mean, it hurt?" Shadow was confused by this whole turn of events. Normally, Chaos Control felt like a huge energy rush, like the entire universe flowed through you all at once. But it was an exciting feeling, not a painful one... until now, that is.

"I don't know, it felt like my entire body was burning up! What do you think caused this?"

Shadow grunted. "What else? It's probably something to do with this whole Dark Gaia business. Did you ever use Chaos Control the last time this happened to you?"

His companion gripped his arm. "No. Back then, the emeralds didn't work at all. When the world fell out of balance, they lost their power. Besides," he smirked, "even if they were working, I prefer to go places by foot."

"Hmmm." Shadow crossed his arms, processing this information. "Perhaps the fox boy will know something about this."

Sonic snapped his fingers at the suggestion. "Tails! Why didn't I think of it before?" He brought out the communicator, and after pressing a few buttons, the screen came to life. Two tails were swaying back and forth, blocking the view of the basement lab. "Hey buddy! Got a minute?"

Looking up from his current project, the fox suddenly bore a large smile. "Sonic! You're okay!" he said, almost squealing in excitement.

"For the most part."

"You're alive!"

"That I am."

"And you're all wet."

"Ugh, don't remind me. It's a bit of a long story, but Shads and I went to Apotos because we-"

Cutting him off, Shadow cleared his throat and glared angrily at Sonic, making his feelings toward the idle chit chat very clear. Sonic seemed to get the message.

"Oh, right. Have you done much research on the artificial Dark Gaia?"

The fox kit's expression suddenly grew serious. "Right. Professor Crudele and I are doing our best with the samples we have. He's monitoring the blood samples and I'm monitoring the fur and saliva samples."

"You're watching my spit?" Sonic asked, but then Shadow snatched the communicator out of his hands.

"Tell me everything you know about Dark Gaia and how it interacts with Chaos Energy," he yelled, short on patience.

Startled, the fox boy jumped in his seat. "Okay, okay, I'll look. But most of that is under the Professor's notes. I'd have to ask him."

The boy backed away from the desk and walked off screen, and from the sound of it he had initiated an argument with the Professor. The two hedgehogs waited around a few minutes, but after it was clear that whatever they were doing was going to take a while, Sonic spoke up.

"You didn't have to be so rough on him."

Shadow grunted. "This is important. We don't have time for blabbering on about nothing."

"The kid is thirteen!"

"And when I was thirteen, I had to deal with a lot worse that being talked to roughly. Frankly, he has too."

The blue hedgehog raised an eye ridge. "And what do you mean by that?"

Shadow sighed. "Sonic, Tails has been following you around since he was a small child, correct? And in that time, how many times has his life been in danger by association, because of the Doctor or a monster or even myself? Don't you ever think about how fast that makes a kid grow up?"

Sonic looked at the ground. "I don't like to think about that. It's true, the way I live isn't exactly the best nurturing environment. But in a way, it's the only way I know. It's how I grew up, but unlike Tails, I didn't have anyone like a big brother to keep me safe." The blue hedgehog laughed to himself. "You're right in a way, Shadow; Tails is very mature for his age, and he has to deal with a lot from me. But I still want him to feel like a kid while he still can."

Shadow didn't reply to that. He never had much of a childhood on the ARK. When he was created, he was already given the mind of a mature adult, though his body was that of a child. There was little time for games or horseplay on a military colony. Most of the time, he was being tested for disease resilience, or strength, or endurance, or something else that invariably required him to run on a treadmill with a needle stuck in his arm. But at the end of the day, when he would go to Maria's room and read books or just talk, everything felt right. She was like a sister to him, and she cared about him more than anyone else did.

She even died for him.

_I wonder is Maria felt the same about me that Sonic feels about Tails._

His reminiscing was interrupted by a burst of static, and the two tailed fox came back on the screen, a slightly annoyed scowl adorning his face.

"Apparently, the Professor's notes on the matter are in Shamar, where the old lab was. The Tornado is almost fixed, but it'll still take me a few days to get there."

Shadow was not pleased. "And you aren't able to tell anything from what you have on hand?"

Tails stammered. "W-well no. Not without a Chaos Emerald, and we don't have time for you to make a detour to do those kinds of tests. And I don't know why you're even asking about this still."

Sonic took back the communicator. "We did a Chaos Control, and it hurt. It's a bit worrisome."

Tails' eyes opened wide. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, and that's why we want to know what's going on here!"

The young fox shook his head. "I can understand that, and I'll get to Shamar as soon as I can. But in the meantime," he said, pushing a few buttoms, minimizing his face on the screen and showing the two hedgehogs a world map, "I've found the location of the next Chaos Emerald."

Shadow looked closely. "It's in the Arctic."

Tails nodded. "That's right. It's in an abandoned base of Eggman's, called White Acropolis, just outside of Holoska. He designed it years ago for some kind of scheme, but I guess it fell through."

Putting his fist in his hand, Sonic grew determined. "Alright. Shadow and I will go to the Doctor's ice cave, and you get ready to go to the lab and get the data."

Tails flashed a thumbs up. "Okay. I'll get on it. You be careful, Sonic."

"Always am." The device blinked twice, then shut off. The black hedgehog looked at his blue companion and took the communicator back. "We should get running so we can make it there before nightfall."

"Agreed. But first," the blue hedgehog said with a grin, "have you ever had a Chocolate Chipped Sundae Supreme?"

* * *

After the unexpected call from Sonic and Shadow, Tails slid out of his chair, walking up the stairs. "Crudele," he yelled as he reached the top, "can you do today's observations for my samples too? I need to get this plane up and running as soon as possible."

The Professor plastered on a fake grin. "I can do that, Miles. Just focus on what you need to do."

When he heard the door to the basement close, the Professor dropped his act, allowing his smile to turn to a grimace and to rub his forehead in frustration. He hit four buttons on the screen, and Doctor Eggman's face appeared. "Why are you bothering me now, Professor?" the Doctor questioned threateningly. The roughness of his words made the Professor unthinkingly reach up to the scar on the back of his head. "Oh don't worry, Professor," the Doctor said, "A minor inconvenience such as this is not a big enough offense to resort to using the chip."

The Professor sighed. "But not telling you what's going on would be."

A glint appeared in the Doctor's eye. "Oh, and what would that be?"

"Sonic has begun to suspect the opposition of Dark Gaia to Chaos Energy, and is requesting more information on the matter. I sent the fox boy on a wild goose chase to Shamar. He's going to my old lab."

Eggman paused a moment, stroking his mustache. "Ah, yes. The Shamar lab. Well, I may send a bomb over anyway. Destroy any evidence that may be left."

The Professor winced. He had spent the last four years in that lab, after the university had abandoned him. He couldn't even count the hours he spent laboring over one sample or another, waiting for some breakthrough. It almost seemed like a second home to him. But he was in no position to argue. "Yes... I understand."

"Anything else to report?"

The Professor withdrew the blood sample from the desk and laid it out on the table. "Obviously, I've been fabricating the data that the fox boy sees. But the artificial Dark Gaia is multiplying, as we originally expected."

"So its properties as a virus are beginning to show?"

"Only in the blood sample. Even if you did not inject him with the second shot, Sonic would most likely struggle keeping his present demeanor under the sheer amount of Darkness within. Not enough to be purely evil, but enough to give up heroics."

Doctor Eggman clapped his hands like a gleeful child with a new toy. "Excellent! So even if my plan should somehow fail, I at least wouldn't have to worry about his interference."

"And should it succeed?"

"Isn't it obvious, Professor?" the Doctor replied with an evil laugh, "his heart will be consumed by evil, and he will become the ultimate weapon in my world conquest! Hoo hoo hoo! I can see it now! The Eggman Empire!"

The Professor sighed. "Yes, Doctor."

"Now continue with your duties. I have other things to attend to."

The screen flickered off once more and the Professor buried his head in his hands. _One mistake all those years ago, and now I'm aiding a mad man in search for world domination. This is my cursed fate. I disrespected the sanctity of innocent life once, and now it will taint me for the rest of my existance_. The Professor put the blood sample back away and began observations on the fur and saliva samples, completely unaware of a golden tail just barely poking out from behind the wall, one that had been there the whole time.


	12. Fur Like A Blanket

**CHAPTER TWELVE: Fur Like a Blanket**

**((Or the alternate title, "Yes, there is a kiss in this one, finally. Let the readers rejoice."))**

After a full day of running, the sun was just about to set when Sonic and Shadow reached Holoska. "These guys have seen me in my Werehog form," Sonic informed Shadow, "so they won't get freaked out when they see me like that."

The black hedgehog didn't respond. When Sonic had suggested, along the way, that the two spend the night in the village, he originally said no. But they were both tired, and even if the base was empty, who knows how much security there would be there? They both needed to be in top condition.

But when Sonic, who was about to transform, sent Shadow ahead to look at where they would spend the night, he began to worry. A kindly woman let him into an igloo, and he noted two things; the lack of heat and the single mat for the two to sleep on. _Is this some kind of sick joke? _he thought in his head. _Is he trying to mess with my head?_ Sure, in his idle moments, when he daydreamed, he thought about the possibility of the two sharing a bed. But that was under a very different context, and the thoughts were mostly involuntary. After all, nothing like that could actually happen.

Still, when the now large and furry werehog entered the igloo, Shadow couldn't help but blush. "Why is there only one bed, Sonic?" he asked accusingly, worried that his flushing face would show even in the darkness. The kindly woman winked at the two of them before leaving. _Damn it all._

The blue hedgehog stirred ever so slightly, but quickly regained his composure. "I just thought that the body heat could help you cope with the cold. I mean, I have thick fur at night, but you don't. I thought I could help keep you warm."

"Well I am just fine! Part of the design of the Ultimate Lifeform is to handle extreme temperatures. But I guess you didn't think that far ahead. You never think ahead!"

Sonic stood for a moment, a look of slight hurt creeping on his face as he replied, "I'm sorry, Shadow. I guess I didn't. But this is where we are for the night, so we might as well make the most of it."

Shadow looked at the mat. It was barely big enough for the two of them, especially with Sonic being as big as he was. "I guess the body heat would make it easier to sleep..." he muttered, halfway hoping Sonic wouldn't hear him. _So it wasn't about anything like that,_ he realized, _he just wanted me to be warm._ He stepped towards the mat and laid down towards the edge, facing inward. _I guess that was considerate of him to think of me like that._ But when Sonic laid down, his chest fur lightly rubbing up against Shadow's face and his giant arm draping over him like a comforter, a sudden panic crept up on him. _How am I supposed to sleep with him so close to me? _He looked down. _And what if my body does something embarrassing? I won't be able to hide how I feel anymore._ The thought was genuinely scary. _How would he be able to trust me knowing I felt_ that way _about him?_

But when he looked up again to see the werehog's sleeping face, his anxieties seemed to melt away. _He went to sleep quickly,_ Shadow thought. _I guess he really was tired. How long had he gone without sleeping? _Sonic's muzzle let out deep breaths, and the warm air grazed the top of Shadow's quills. His fur really was warm, like being covered in a down blanket, and Shadow felt completely at ease, wishing he could stay like this forever. _If this is all I can get, then I will be happy. I'll make the most of this moment, and I will be content._

It wasn't long before he drifted into dreamless, blissful sleep.

* * *

Tails, meanwhile, worried about what he had stumbled into. He only wanted to get a hammer that he had forgotten in the basement, but when he heard the Professor and a voice that sounded like Eggman talking, he couldn't help but listen in. At first, he had thought that the Professor was finally showing his true colors; after all, he had hurt Sapients like himself before, so what was to stop him from doing it again? But much as he would've liked to ignore it, from the sadness in the Professor's voice, Tails could tell that he really didn't want to help Eggman. In addition to that, the Doctor had said something about a chip, and the Professor willingly agreed to his own lab being destroyed. Tails didn't trust Professor Crudele as far as he could throw him, but the whole dealing seemed... forced.

But what to do about it? Tails still had to fix the Tornado, and a trip to Shamar would help keep up appearances. But why was he so desperate to help Professor Crudele?

_Because if it were you, you would want to benefit of the doubt. And if Eggman is doing something to him, then you should help him._

Tails returned up the stairs and walked to the phone on the wall. He pulled it off of it's receiver and dialed a number, one he hadn't called for a long time. The phone rang for a minute or two before he finally heard a masculine voice on the other hand.

"Why, Tails, this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"I know you weren't, Professor Pickle. But I have a minor emergency. Do you think you can meet me in Shamar?"

He heard a small laugh over the phone. "I can be there in three days time. Cucumber sandwiches in tow."

* * *

Several hours later, Sonic was awoken by the pain of transformation to his smaller form. It never got much easier to feel his entire being contract, but at least he better knew what to expect. He panted and wheezed as he recovered, but then he glanced at Shadow, who was still fast asleep. _The poor guy hadn't slept for even longer than I had,_ Sonic bemused to himself. _He may be the Ultimate Lifeform, but even he should get a good night's sleep every once in a while. _

Sonic took out the communicator. _The signal is so close to here, and Shadow said that the base was empty. I could just do a quick run, grab it, and be back here in less then an hour. Wouldn't even have to wake him up..._ Shadow had seemed mad at him last night, and Sonic wanted to prove to him that he was responsible, that he could be considerate. That settles it. I'm going. Then when he wakes up, we can get going to the next one, and we can leave last night's awkwardness behind us.

The blue hedgehog stood up, then looked down at Shadow's sleeping form. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge came over him. _I wonder... since he won't know anyway... if I could...this may be my only chance to... _And so, he bent over, and he lightly kissed Shadow. The black hedgehog let out a sharp breath, but didn't wake. A small laugh escaped Sonic's mouth, so quiet that nobody but he could hear it. _I guess I'm not enough of a Prince to wake up the Sleeping Beauty, huh?_ He smiled sadly, rising up, his lips still tingling with the secret kiss. _I've been a hero of the Arabian Nights, and I've been King Arthur in the Tales of Camelot, but I guess the one thing I'm not meant to be is a lover. _Stealing one last glance at the sleeping black hedgehog, Sonic let himself enjoy one more moment before bolting out the door and up the frozen tundra.

* * *

Sonic's shoes were originally designed years ago to limit traction as much as possible to keep him from slowing down. On a normal day, it was a great asset; it allowed him to reach high speeds much more quickly than he otherwise could, and Sonic was nothing if not fast. But on an icy hill, covered in slick snow, the lack of friction was much more worrisome. _Shadow's shoes would come in handy right about now,_ Sonic thought, _all that Chaos Energy he uses would just melt the ice right down. I'd be on rocks. And if there was a big ball of ice, he would Chaos Blast the thing right out of the way. _But he quickly shoved the thought out of his head. Shadow's not here, Sonic. And besides, you're almost at the coordinates for the Emerald.

The snow covered hills were arcing forward, and Sonic could see giant grey walls coming over the top. I'm here, he thought to himself. And it looks like there's no security here after all, he notices, seeing the fragments of robots and broken searchlights adorning the landscape. So finding this Emerald should be a piece of cake!

He walked into the fortress, glancing from side to side, looking for the slightest glimmer of light. The snow reflected the light, and it nearly blinded the him. But after walking closer to the main building, he saw it; a red Chaos Emerald, lying inside a broken searchlight just outside the door. Jackpot, he thought to himself, smiling as he approached the shimmering red light. Now all I have to do it grab it and...

Upon touching the Chaos Emerald, his hand felt like it was lit on fire. He let out a loud yelp, not expecting the burst of pain. _What is this? Even touching the Chaos Emerald hurts? What's going on?_

But he couldn't think long. He heard a rumbling from up the mountain, and slow started to barrel down the mountain. "Avalanche!" he cried out, quickly scooping up the Emerald in the communicator and running inside the building. _Let's hope this place will hold up under all the snow,_ he worried. Standing near the doorway, he saw the snow pile up as the rumble turned into a roar, nearly deafening as snow pounded against metal. _Please end soon,_ he prayed to no one in particular. _Just please make it end._

And it did. After the rumbling died down to an occasional pitter patter, Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. "Now to get out of here," he said, adjusting his gloves. He took a running start at the snow, but was greeted by what felt like a wall when he hit it. Falling backwards, Sonic grimaced as he saw only a small dent in the snow. _I'm trapped in here,_ he thought, _and what's worse, if I ever get out, Shadow is going to kill me._

**((Okay, so the kiss wasn't terrifically good. A quick peck, really. But there'll be more later. Trust me.))**


	13. The Meat Locker

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Meat Locker**

******((I'm heading back to college this week, so I'm switching to one update a week instead of two, on Wednesdays. I'm about five chapters ahead in writing at this point, in case school gets to be too much, but I'm still open for suggestions of ways the story could go. Let me know in reviews. And, without further ado, the hardest chapter for me to write ever.))**

Shadow awoke with a sudden shiver. _I'm cold, _he realized. _I never get cold..._ But what worried him more was the second thing he noticed; he was alone. All that was left of Sonic were a few hairs, obviously shed in the middle of the night, and some scuff marks leading out the door. "Damn it, Sonic, where did you go?" he swore to himself.

The kindly woman who helped them into this place last suddenly burst into the igloo. "Mister Shadow!" she cried out loudly, "You must help your friend."

Shadow's face betrayed his surprise. "You know where he went?"

"Sonic was seen running up the mountain about an hour ago, and then, not long afterwards, there was an avalanche! The village is okay, only some light snow, but Sonic has yet to return, and we're all very worried about him."

_The damn fool must have gone on ahead to get the Chaos Emerald. _Shadow hit the wall with his fist. _He left me again. Why does he always leave? _"I'll get on up the mountain. I will find him," he said, more menacingly than he would've liked.

The woman shook slightly in her heavy overcoat. "I know you can do it. You obviously are special to the boy. Of all the times he has come here since the world got put back together, you're the first companion I've seen him with."

Shadow looked at her strangely. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

She smiled. "It means you are special."

He looked at her strangely. _Special?_ "I know this may sound odd," she continued, "but seeing you around him... it reminds me of me when I was a girl, following the man who eventually became my husband. Ever since he disappeared, I had lost hope in love. But you," she said, gripping his hands, "you, boy, made me remember."

Looking around the igloo, noting that Sonic must have taken the communicator with him. _Yeah. I'm really special. That's why he up and left._ "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. Sonic and I are only partners for this one mission. After this, we're going our separate ways."

She let out a coy smile, which somehow felt dirty coming from a woman her age. "If you insist. In any case, love him or not, you certainly don't want to lose him. Can you find him?"

The black hedgehog snapped his hands out of hers and quickly crossed them. "He brought a tracking device with him. If I can get access to a radio, I can find out where he is."

The elderly woman looked at him sadly. "I'm afraid we don't have anything like that up here. Most electronics don't work in these temperatures, so we usually don't bother"

Shadow scowled. "Surely you must have something?"

"The only electronics that work around here are in the abandoned base up the mountain. You may want to go there first. That's probably where Sonic went in the first place."

He nodded. "I'll leave shortly, then. I will find him."

He tried going out the door, when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He felt a thick coat drape over his shoulders, the fabric trapping heat in. He turned to see the now shivering woman. "You need it more than I do. Now go. And be safe."

Shadow nodded. "Keep the igloo ready. I plan to be back with Sonic before nightfall."

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the White Acropolis base, Sonic tried to think of a way out of the building. _If worse comes to worse, I can always wait until night and punch my way out. I might be strong enough to do it then. _He shook his head. _Then again, I don't know how much snow there is outside the door, or how tightly packed it is. If I try to force my way out, I might bury myself on accident. _He turned around and looked at the base. The room was cylindrical, with a small observation deck on the top. Looking closely, he could see a door. _Eggman may not be good enough to beat me, but he's not stupid either. If he designed this place, there must be more than one way out in case of emergencies. I just have to look for one._ His stomach growled loudly. _Who knows? There's probably some food around here too, somewhere._

The blue hedgehog grinned as he raced up to the door and, with a swift kick of his leg, knocked it down. Behind the door, Sonic saw a huge network of hallways, leading to multiple door that all looked the same; plain white and decorated only with nondescript numbers. _I probably should leave some kind of signal saying where I am. _Sonic doubted that Shadow would seek him out. He probably thought he ditched out on him again, and Sonic still hadn't explained why he left so suddenly on his birthday. _But if he does come up here, I want him to know where I am. But how?_

From down one of the corridors, Sonic could hear the faint whir of mechanical parts. Oh great. So there is security here after all. _It's not much, but that must mean this lab has something Eggman wants to hide. _He turned and dashed at the robot, breaking it easily with a swift kick to its main circuitry. A small pool of oil formed around the broken pieces. _Perfect,_ Sonic thought with a smile. First, he stepped in the oil, getting the bottom of his shoes covered in black. Dipping his finger into the oil, he scrawled a quick message on the wall, hoping it wouldn't drip enough to blur the intention.

I went that way -.

And he proceeded to go in the direction of the arrow, leaving a black trail in his wake._ Hopefully I can get back before anyone would need it._

* * *

The overcoat the woman gave Shadow slowed him down slightly, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. It was strange that he felt cold- he was designed to be resilient in nearly all conditions- but Shadow knew that griping about it wouldn't do any good. _I just need to reach the base, and I'll be fine_, he thought between shivers. Luckily for him, Sonic had been sloppy; the snow around where he had been running was disheveled, and Shadow could follow the trail almost all the way up the mountain. It wasn't until a giant mound of snow poked out from over the hills that he couldn't follow it anymore.

_I doubt Sonic got buried in the snow; he's much too fast for that, _Shadow reasoned._ But if he didn't come back down the mountain, then somehow, he must still be up here. _He stepped up the mound, his feet falling into the soft snow. _There's supposedly a base up here, and it would make sense for him to go indoors once he saw the avalanche. But I don't see it anywhere._

With a clank, Shadow's foot made contact with metal, stubbing the Ultimate Lifeform's toe. Shit, he thought to himself at first, but then realized what he stumbled upon. Could this be... Shadow began to dig down, and as he got further he discovered that the metal was the ceiling of a large building. _He must be in here!_ Drawing back his arm, Shadow focused on the dent from his shoe.

"Chaos Spear!"

A bright dagger of Chaos energy came from his hand, and with a loud crash, it ripped through the metal, creating a hole in the building. Sparks from the electric wiring made Shadow flinch at first, but he gradually grew to ignore them, jumping through the hole in the ceiling. With a thud, he fell to the ground, hitting the floor hard. "Ow," he said aloud, rubbing his thighs. "That was a higher fall than I was expecting." He stood up slowly, looking at his new surroundings. A long hallway, completely sterile white... with the exception of an ugly black line on the floor. Shadow put his palm to his face. "Sonic, you would," he grumbled. Kneeling down, he rubbed his finger along the black marks. He concluded that the line was made from some kind of oil, and that it had dried more on his left side than his right. "I just need to follow the line to the right, and I'll eventually find him."

* * *

Sonic, meanwhile, had been running around the building for nearly an hour before finally finding a sign of life; a fly. He smirked to himself, allowing the tiny creature to land on his glove. "At this point, I'll take it. If this little guy is around, that must mean there's a food source around here somewhere." And surely enough, after a few meters, he caught a whiff of rotting meat. The blue hedgehog gagged at first, but his stomach still grumbling, he kept going ahead toward the smell. _Where there's meat, there's most likely something prepackaged,_ he determined, plugging his nose. I'll just have to eat in another room, and-

Upon entering the room, Sonic froze at the horrific sight. No, this can't be happening...

He heard hover skates from down the hall, and he turned to see Shadow. "You came..." he whispered weakly. But the black hedgehog, too was reduced to staring.

"Sonic," he asked, "just how many dead bodies are in here?"

**((Well, that escalated quickly.**

**I hate this chapter with a fiery passion. It didn't do much and it was impossibly hard to write, but if I left it out nothing would make sense. I can't win! Maybe I'll rewrite it in a few months when I can stand to look at it again, but for now this is what you get.**

**Fear not, though. The next few chapters are interesting again. And most likely, I'll never have to write a chapter like this. ))**


	14. A Red Emerald to Raise Questions

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A Red Emerald to Raise Questions**

**((WARNING: This chapter contains significant amounts of description of dead bodies. If you aren't comfortable with that, feel free to skip this chapter. Also, in reviews, let me know if this is enough to warrant switching to an M rating.))**

Before the two hedgehogs was a pile of rotting corpses, left behind who knew how long ago. Sonic flinched as he saw the bug that he had just allowed on his person fly over to one of them, a middle aged Holoskan man with glasses, and land on his still open eyeball. "There's so many of them..." the blue hedgehog said, out of shock. "Do you think the Doctor..."

"I don't want to believe that," Shadow interrupted. "The Doctor may be evil, but he doesn't seem the type to commit mass murder. He's always wanted to rule people, not kill them."

Sonic shook his head. "But there's no other explanation. I mean, this is his base, right?" He closed his eyes. "A base I didn't even know about. And I'm supposed to be his enemy. I'm supposed to keep him in check." A small tear dripped down his face, and Shadow had to fight the urge to hold him. Sonic had been fighting Doctor Eggman for years, and with that came many horrors. Shadow didn't know about everything that Sonic had seen, but he knew that Sonic had been around when the Black Arms had been decimating cities, fighting through the hoards of aliens and robots right alongside him, even though Shadow didn't know Sonic then, and didn't trust him. But to see death so clearly in front of you... that was an experience that only Shadow had. Even before his time working with GUN as a military weapon, he had seen people mowed down like grass, people shot down when they proved even slightly inconvenient. Innocent people.

People like Maria.

He wasn't used to it by any stretch. You could never become fully accustomed to a sight like this. But he could deal with it effectively, and get done what needed to be done. The Ultimate Lifeform walked closer to the bodies, wincing at the stench. "What are you doing?" Sonic asked quietly. Shadow ignored him, instead poking and prodding the bodies. "It's odd," he commented, "they don't appear to be damaged."

Sonic violently shook at the words. "What do you mean they don't appear to be damaged? They're all dead!"

Shadow scowled. "That's not what I mean. If you look closely, you can see that none of the bodies have any wounds inflicted on them. I would suspect a gas attack, but most of them have some light bleeding around the ears, nose, and eyes, which would indicate some kind of brain injury. Besides, there aren't any places for gas to come through in this room."

"Do you really have to give me a play by play?"

"We'll only find out how this happened if we carefully examine all the facts."

The blue hedgehog rubbed his arm. "Yeah, w-well, what if I don't want to know how it happened?"

Shadow was getting annoyed. "I'm not the one who ran off here on my own. Again."

Sonic raised his eyeridge. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Like you left me three days ago, after our fight!"

Sonic's eyes opened in shock, and Shadow, uncharacteristically, covered his mouth. "So that's what this is about, huh?" Sonic asked of him. "You're mad because I ran off?"

Shadow grew frustrated as he noticed tears welling up in frustration. _Damn it, I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing tears._ "Sonic, you're always so busy, running off to save the world. Did it ever occur to you that I fight you because it's the only way you'd make time for me?"

"What is it that you want to tell me, Shadow? What could possibly be so important that I should've dropped everything while time was destroying itself?"

"Why should it be important? Does the world have to be going up in flames in order for me to matter?" Sonic looked at his hands awkwardly, and Shadow groaned to himself. "The fact is that you always run out on me. I want to know you, but you never stay in one place long enough for me to talk to you."

"You wouldn't want to know me anyway! Mister Ultimate Lifeform, made by scientists and aliens to be some kind of big shot super hedgehog, wanting to know a scruffy kid who can only run really fast? It's laughable."

"It's not to me!"

Shadow kicked a rock on the floor in anger, sending it zooming across the room. When it landed in the mound of the dead, a loud clang sounded in the room. _That sound... it was as if it hit metal. _Shadow turned away from the argument and went towards the rock, to see that it had landed solidly in the skull of a young woman. "I'm still talking to you!" Sonic was yelling from the other end of the room, but Shadow ignored him as he stretched his fingers around the rock and, with a harsh tug, pulled it out of the now fractured skull. He let out a small gasp; there was a chip inside the woman's head. "Sonic," he yelled to the other hedgehog, "Doctor Eggman used to robotocize animals, right?"

"Yes?"

"Was part of the process effecting their brain?"

"Yeah. The Doctor would put some kind of mechanical thing into their heads that made them do what he wanted."

"It looks like he was trying to learn how to do the same to humans."

Sonic stood up. "No way."

"Take a look for yourself."

The blue hedgehog walked over, carefully stepping over the corpses, and looked at the head. "Are you sure? Maybe the chip was something to do with a medical condition."

The black hedgehog walked over to the next two bodies, an elderly man and a little boy. Pushing back the hair on the back of their heads, he revealed nearly identical scars, about six centimeters in length. "They all seem to have these marks. My guess is that the Doctor was testing these chips on people, but it caused permanent damage to their brains..."

"...killing them," Sonic finished. He shuddered at the thought. "So I guess this is where Ursule's husband disappeared to."

"Ursule?"

"The woman who helped us. Her husband used to be the head of a clan in the village, back when the world was split open. He was one of the people Dark Gaia drove crazy."

"And now, he's somewhere in here."

The two paused a moment. This entire situation was overwhelming. The two of them had gone to the base to get an Emerald, but now that they had found this, they couldn't just ignore it. "Give me the communicator," Shadow demanded, showing his outstretched hand. Sonic complied, and Shadow immediately opened it, putting the three Chaos Emeralds in his hands. So he managed to find it after all. "We need to get a chip that isn't dented, and as much as I don't want to, a person with the chip still in their head."

"Morbid, much?"

"It's how we'd best see what exactly these chips ever managed to do. If we're going to stop the Doctor in whatever plan he's thought up this time, we need to stay one step ahead of the game."

"So we sever someone's head? They probably have a family somewhere that's worried about them. We can't just cut people's heads off."

Shadow walked to the edge of the pile. "It's been several years. I can understand having sentiment for the dead, but at this point, they've been gone for years. They can either remain here to rot, or they can help humanity as a whole by helping to thwart an evil scheme."

Sonic sighed uneasily. "I guess. But it still feels..." He stopped suddenly, as if he was horrified.

"What is it?"

"Jari- Pekka. Ursule's husband. He's right there."

Shadow turned to look. The corpse had a thick beard and goggles, and it bore a thick coat, similar to the one he was wearing now. She probably made that coat for him, he thought to himself. "What should we do?"

Sonic paused a moment, then answered. "He's the one," he decided. "Jari- Pekka was an extremely forgetful person, but he always wanted the best for his people, and for the world in general. He was an honored man." His expression grew solemn. "His wife probably thinks he died during a hunt, or protecting the village. She shouldn't have to know this happened to him."

Shadow raised an eye ridge. "So we lie?"

"Let's just call it... Chaotic Good."

The whole prospect didn't sit quite right with Shadow, but at the moment, it was likely the only way they could get the information they needed, and he certainly wouldn't pass up that chance. "Alright. You may want to turn your head, then."

After the blue hedgehog turned away and closed his eyes, Shadow brought his hand down on the elder's neck, severing the head from the body. He looked at his gloves in disgust, as they now were tinted red from what little blood the corpse still had. "You know," Sonic said to Shadow, "seeing things like this... it hurts."

"I understand what you mean. Nobody should have to see something like that."

"No, I mean physically. It's like... it's like your whole body gets heavier, and your stomach drops."

Shadow put the head into the communicator and slid it shut, "I'm sorry, Sonic."

"Sorry? Why?"

Shadow put the communicator in the blue hedgehog's hands. "Because this is going to hurt too."

He grabbed on tightly to Sonic's fur, and before the latter could object, he lifted the hand holding the three Chaos Emeralds.

"Chaos Control!"

The two warped through space again, and Sonic was fully awake this time, screaming the whole way._ I said I was sorry, _Shadow thought,_ I hope you believe me_.

They in front of the house with a thud, and Sonic wound up his arm to punch Shadow with the communicator in hand. Shadow deflected quickly, just barely avoided getting hit in the arm by the hard metal. "You Chaos Controlled? You know that hurts, Shadow."

"Well you know what? We're short on time and I didn't want to explain the blood on my hands to the people in the village. Can you blame me?" The black hedgehog looked at the emerald eyes, and for a split second, he could've sworn they flashed black. It startled him.

"You have no idea what kind of pain you just put me through. Maybe I should put you through..."

The blue hedgehog's eyes began to shut, and to Shadow's horror, he passed out on the lawn. _Great,_ he thought. _Now I have to carry him in again._

**((There we go. I hope this chapter made up for the last one. It certainly was more fun to write. I'm pretty sure you know by this point that reviews make me happy, but I'll say it again. I do listen to your suggestions.))**


	15. Division in the Ranks

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Division in the Ranks**

**((Believe it or not, I'm nearly done writing this story. You aren't done reading it- you're about halfway through. But because I'm planning ahead, I have a poll up for what my next regularly updated project should be. They're all things I'll do at some point anyway, and some may even be updated irratically, but only one will definitely be updated every week. Please vote, and depending on what gets the most interest, I'll put them up soon. But for now, enjoy!))**

Getting back in the house wasn't the most pleasant experience for Shadow. First, he had to explain why Sonic was passed out again. Then, he had to explain the head in the communicator, and that no, he didn't kill the man, can't you see he's half rotted already? And after that, he had to calm a crying Tails down, regretting his decision to show a thirteen year old boy such a gruesome image. All of this took nearly an hour, and by the time they were done, Sonic's breathing returned to normal.

Tails, still visibly shaken, turned to the blue hedgehog, who was now lying on their couch. "I should probably check his vitals, before he wakes up and starts freaking out about needles."

Shadow nodded and took the communicator down the stairs as Tails started examining his friend, and the black hedgehog saw Professor Crudele at his desk, eyes on a microscope. The man seemed tired, but Tails had obviously been treating him well; he wasn't extremely skinny like he had been when they met, nor was he as drastically pale. But he seemed extremely stressed about something or another. Shadow figured that he could use the interruption.

"Professor," the black hedgehog said, slowly approaching the desk, "I need you to look something over for me."

"You should know as well as anyone that I already am busy observing the Dark Gaia substitute. Shouldn't you be hunting Chaos Emeralds with Sonic?"

"He's unconscious, and this is probably just as important, and I can't ask Tails to do it. That leaves you, pretty much."

The man sighed and looked up from the microscope. "And what, pray tell, could be so..." He stopped, seeing the open communicator with the severed head inside.

"I need you to look at this," Shadow said, turning the head over and revealing the scar. "There's a chip inside this person's head, and we believe it is trying to effect the person's behavior."

The Professor looked at the head like it was a ticking time bomb. "Where did you get that? How can you know about that?"

Shadow glared at the Professor. "Are you familiar with this project?" he asked. _Come to think of it, Professor Crudele was in Eggman's base, and apparently had been in contact with him beforehand. He would know better than anyone what the Doctor is planning._

The Professor was rubbing his temples. "This is too much... you have no idea what you're getting into..."

"So you are familiar with it."

"It's a long story, but I can tell you right now that it's dangerous for me to even be looking at this sample. You need to take it somewhere safe, some other laboratory."

"Where would you suggest?"

"You have connections to GUN, right? Wouldn't they also be well equipped for this?"

Shadow groaned. He and GUN had a very complicated relationship, to say the least. They were partially responsible for his inception, they were completely responsible for Maria's death, and they also were his former employer. But GUN never sat quite right with Shadow even when he was working for them, with its mentality of keeping everyone on a need to know basis. He had quit soon after he started there, and the thought of going back was dreadful. "Are you sure there's no way you can keep it here?"

The Professor looked down. "Only if Tails, exclusively, were looking at it, and I feigned complete ignorance."

"The child?"

"That child is brilliant, and the chip would take someone with great mechanical expertise, which he has."

"He saw the head and panicked."

"Can you blame him? But he can do it."

Shadow thought a moment. "On one condition. You never tell Sonic that I gave him the sample." If he knew that I gave a severed head to Tails when he told me just how much he wanted him to have a normal childhood, I'm not sure he'd forgive me.

"Very well. I'm not supposed to know anyway. You had better hurry, though. You only have a few hours until the sun sets, and if anything could wake Sonic from his slumber, it would be the pain of transformation."

Tails looked at Sonic, snoring on the coach, and sighed. _I wish I could say that I wasn't used to Sonic coming home like this,_ the fox thought to himself, _but with the amount of trouble he gets in, I guess I'm lucky he comes back alive._ Tails shuddered at the thought of that head that Shadow had brought back. _Eggman is always up to something, and just when I think he's becoming less of a threat, something like this happens that proves just how awful he is. When you're dealing with someone like that, you're ._ Inspecting the blue fur closely and lightly touching the skin, Sonic winced and violently jerked backwards. _If touching him hurts that much, then he's obviously been through a lot of pain recently. And if that head was something they just came across, then we're dealing with something bigger than we've ever faced before._

The young fox closed his eyes. _I don't trust Crudele, especially after hearing him deal with Eggman, and so far I've been trusting his research results. But if he's hiding something, a lot of people could die because of it. _Tails took a syringe out from a drawer, and very carefully, he drew blood from the vein. Sonic winced again, but Tails was very light on the touch. _It'll mean more work, but I'll have to do my own study of the blood._

"What are you doing?" the fox kit heard coming from the stairs. Shadow was standing there, arms crossed and scowling.

"I- Shadow, can I be honest about something with you?"

"Just spit it out."

"I don't trust Crudele. I think he may have connections with Eggman."

Shadow uncrossed his arms and began walking towards the coach. "You would be right not to. But I also think that he is innocent. At least, as innocent as he can be given his past discretions."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? How can he have connections with Eggman and still be innocent?"

Shadow paused a moment. "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough. In the meantime, what do we do about Sonic?"

The two tails drooped slightly. "He's been through a lot of pain in the past few days. My guess is that whatever Chaos Control does to him and the transformations are doing a number on him. He should really stay here and rest for a few days, but we both know that we don't have time for that."

Shadow looked at the blue hedgehog with sad eyes. "Then I'll go alone."

"What?"

"He needs to rest, doesn't he? And besides, if he's just going to faint every time he gets hurt, then he'd just slow me down."

Tails thought about the possibility a moment. Sonic would be furious if Shadow left without him, but if he didn't stay behind, Tails didn't know how his body would cope. This could give him a little time to heal.

"Okay. But only because the next Emerald is close by, and we have friends there that can help you."

"What?" Shadow yelled, turning to the fox. "You know where the next Emerald is and you didn't tell us?"

"Well, you just got home and-"

"Tails, where's that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?"

Tails winced at the swear, not used to hearing abrasive language. "It's somewhere on Angel Island. The Master Emerald screws up the signal a bit, but Knuckles should be able to help you find it."

Shadow seemed to calm down a bit. "I'll be going right away, then. I don't waste time."

Before Tails could interject, the black hedgehog was already grabbing the communicator and Chaos Controlling away, his whole body surrounding with light before disappearing in a flash. Tails sighed. Sonic wasn't going to like this one bit.

The two tailed fox put away the syringe in a hidden compartment in the kitchen, then descended the stairs to see four things; the severed head, the yellow Chaos Emerald, a piece of paper with very neat handwriting, and a very stern looking Professor Crudele, away from his desk and staring at him.

"I need to talk to you. It's important."

**((And I'll end it on a cliffhanger. I'm evil! And yes, I also had to put the Chaos Emerald line in. I couldn't resist :P ))**


	16. Under the Influence

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Under the Influence**

**((Or it's alternate title, "The Random Part where Sonic's on Narcotics :)**

**I just want to thank everyone who's been reading this story. I know I don't respond to reviews very often, if at all, but I do appreciate every word. This chapter has a bit of everything in it, from intrigue to fluff to ancient lore. It's wonderful!))**

Tails looked at the Professor. "You need to talk to me? About what?"

The Professor ruffled the hair on the back of the head, suddenly looking nervous. "I'm afraid it's not safe to discuss here. The Chaos Emerald Shadow entrusted to me will only interfere with the signals for a few more minutes."

"Signals?"

"We're being bugged. We need to go to an open area, preferably someplace we haven't been before."

"Bugged? How? For how long?"

"I'll explain on the way, the sensors will adjust any time now..."

"You'll explain now, mister!"

Crudele sighed. "I've written all the explanation and instructions you'll need, but it would be dangerous to relay any information here. Take the head, the Emerald, the note, and Sonic, and go to Spagonia. Contact Pickle at the University, and don't read the paper until you get there."

"But what about Shamar? Wasn't that the lab where I was supposed to go?"

"Shamar is a trap. Go to Spagonia. I'll buy you time with Eggman. Now go!"

The two heard a whirring sound as dozens of tiny mechanical devices came back to life, and Tails knew that Crudele, perhaps for the first time since the two met, was telling the whole truth.

"Alright, Professor. Sonic and I will be going to Shamar," adding air quotes around Shamar. The fox gathered some of his tools and medical supplies before leaving. Right before he closed the door, he stole one last glance at Crudele, and he could've sworn he was rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

Shadow's Chaos Control landed him right beneath the floating island. _I couldn't land on the actual island, _he realized. I_ guess that this place is protected somehow. But if the Emerald is up there, than that's where I need to be. _He grimaced to himself as he attempted to devise a plan for going up to the island, when he was suddenly surrounded by a hazy green light. "What the-" he started to say, but as he began to float upwards, he saw the source of the glow. "I didn't know you could use Chaos Energy, Knuckles."

The echidna looked at the hedgehog with a lopsided grin. "I'd be a pretty poor guardian for the Master Emerald if I couldn't, right? And what are you doing here anyway."

The glow faded around Shadow, and he dropped on the solid ground of the island. "There is a Chaos Emerald on the island somewhere, and I need to find it."

Knuckles lifted an eye ridge. "Collecting Chaos Emeralds again? What, are you trying to get your memory back again?"

Shadow glared at him. "My memory is perfectly fine. I'm gathering them for Sonic."

"Our Sonic? Doesn't he like to just go after them himself?"

Shadow winced. _He doesn't know how true that is._ "Yes," he grumbled, "but he's also injured, and the matter is pressing."

"More than usual?"

"We have less than three weeks, or something terrible will happen to Sonic."

Knuckles suddenly got angry. He grabbed Shadow's chest fur and hoisted him upwards. "You know what? I'm tired of you being enigmatic all the time. 'Something' isn't going to cut it. So you'll explain everything that's going on, every last detail, or I'll knock you off the island right now. You understand?"

"You only needed to ask."

Knuckles put Shadow down and, after a few sweeps of his chest fur, the black hedgehog started walking. "Time really is of the essence. I'll tell you while we search for the Emerald."

* * *

The Tornado flew into the horizon, the sky hovering at a constant sunset. It was quite beautiful to watch, and it also kept Sonic from transforming in the Tornado, which was definitely a good thing; Tails wasn't sure the seats in the Tornado were big enough to hold a werehog.

Getting him in the Tornado in the first place hadn't been easy. Because Sonic winced in pain every time someone tried to touch him, Tails had to rush to the nearby clinic and pick up some of the strongest painkillers they had. Normally he wouldn't have been allowed to just take the medication without a prescription, but luckily for him one of the desk workers fancied him. Once he got back, he made Sonic swallow the narcotics, and after a few minutes, was able to carry him into the plane. The only side effect that Tails noticed was that Sonic began to talk...strangely in his sleep.

"Shadow, no! You can't go!"

Tails sighed. Maybe Sonic was partially conscious when Shadow left. It would explain what his blue friend was saying, anyway. "Shadow will be back soon," Tails said, "he's just running an errand."

"He can't leave me! I need him!"

"You can do just fine on your own. You don't need him to help."

"But yous don't undershtand. I love him, Tailsh!"

"I love him too. Like a brother, right?"

"No, Tailsh. Iss more than that. Iss like...my chest gets all funny, ya know? Like warm and stuff."

"That's the pain meds talking, Sonic."

"No iss not. You know, sometimes, when we're runnin' around and stuff, I jus wanna knock him down and do stuff to him."

"Like what?"

Sonic began giggling. "Oh, Tailsh, you are much too young for that, ya silly. Iss fun stuff for the adults. No kidsh allowed."

Tails blushed. _Oh. That's what he means._ "You wouldn't be saying this stuff if you were fully in charge of yourself, you know?"

Sonic suddenly looked sad. "I wanna, though. I'm around that guy, like, everyday, you know? And I keep thinkin', I can't do thish. I save da world and stuff. And he doeshn't like me. I can't say that I love him. But sometimes iss jus too hard."

Wanting to do just about anything to get out of this situation, Tails pressed a few buttons on the control panel of the Tornado. He heard the ringing of the plane's phone, and soon a cheerful voice came in over the line. "Tails! I had just heard from you!"

"And here I am again, Professor Pickle. Listen, have you left for Shamar yet?"

"No, though I've almost finished packing..."

"Well there's been a change of plan. We're going to Spagonia now, and Shamar may actually be dangerous."

"Hmm?" an inquisitive noise came in over the phone. "That is peculiar... but I'll trust your judgement, my boy."

Sonic sat up a little. "Ash you should, ol man!"

"Why, is that Sonic?"

Tails laughed to himself. "Yeah, but he isn't quite himself. I'll explain when we get there."

Sonic seemed to take offense to this. "I am my-shhhelf, Tailsh."

"Oh dear, I understand what you mean. Anyway, I'll meet you in the public square. I'll see you soon." The line cut off and a dial tone sounded through the plane. Tails sighed and turned the phone off, once again hiding it in its compartment. This whole situation didn't make any sense. Sonic was turning into the werehog again, Eggman was experimenting on humans, and he had no idea what to make of Professor Crudele anymore. Not to mention Sonic's sudden confession.

"Tailsh, I wanna shee Shadow!" Sonic was whimpering in his dazed state.

Tails had never fallen in love himself. He was only thirteen, and never had anything beyond a crush on a girl here and there. He was probably the least qualified to give relationship advice, especially given how much older Sonic was. But he couldn't just leave the blue hedgehog there, practically crying. "I'll tell you what, Sonic? You behave well overnight in Spagonia, and I'll tell you where Shadow went. If you think you can tell him without being on medication, you can go to where he is."

Sonic's eyes opened wide. "Thanksh, Tailsh!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm still flying the plane!"

"You have no idea what thish meansh to me!"

He passed out, and Tails breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

After Shadow explained the current situation while they walked, Knuckles was shocked. "So he's really a werehog?"

Shadow nodded. "Yes. It appears you didn't know of his earlier transformation either."

Knuckles laughed to himself. "Yeah, well, people don't tell me much. Everybody thinks that I'm naive and sheltered, staying on this rock all the time."

"You can't really blame them. Didn't you assist the Doctor more than once?"

Knuckles turned to Shadow, the smile disappearing from his face. "That was a long time ago. People don't really know it, but I'm actually pretty clever."

Shadow raised an eye ridge. "Forgive me when I say that I doubt it."

The echidna rolled his eyes. "I may not be 'street smart,' but I've had a strong education as preparation for being the guardian of the Master Emerald. I've studied martial arts, diplomacy, and many of the world's ancient texts."

"Really?" Shadow said in disbelief.

"Yes. Which is why I know of the lore that surrounds werewolves. But Sonic being one doesn't make any sense."

Shadow widened his eyes. _Lore? You mean this has happened before Sonic?_ "Explain it to me. I'm not familiar with it."

"Most people aren't, and we try to keep it that way. Werewolves are extremely rare in the world, because the kind of person that becomes one is rare. According to the legends, it was always a person who had so much darkness in their heart, either from anger or sadness, that when combined with the darkness of the night, their body changed to match."

Shadow nodded. "That makes some sense. The artificial Dark Gaia is what caused him to transform in the first place."

"No, it doesn't make any sense. Those werewolves, when they began, would only retain a semblance of who they were, normally what made their hearts so dark in the first place. They would destroy and destroy until they were no better than feral beasts by night, losing all traces of humanity. But from what you've told me, Sonic still acts the same."

Shadow remembered back to what the Professor had said, about how Sonic had a pure soul and an unusually strong will. "Maybe the reason he doesn't act that way is because the darkness isn't really his."

Knuckles frowned in concentration. "I suppose you're right. In any case, we can discuss this further later."

"Why not now?"

"Because, my brooding friend," the red echidna answered, gesturing at a large stone structure in front of them, "right now we're at the temple, and your Chaos Emerald will be in there."

**((Yeah, the whole drugged-up Sonic was mostly fluff. But I wrote this right after I got my wisdom teeth out, and I thought Sonic on narcotics would be hilarious. And he finally said what he thinks out loud, which is a definite plus. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to have the next chapter up soon!))**


	17. Choosing My Own Destiny

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Choosing My Own Destiny**

**((With this chapter, the word count of the story surpasses that of my Nanowrimo attempt from last year. So apparently these guys are easier to write then my own characters. Who knew?**

**Also, another reminder that there's a poll on my profile for the story that I'll mainly work on after this one is over. Voting would be much appreciated.))**

The landing in Spagonia had been one of the smoothest Tails had ever accomplished. It felt good to be piloting the plane again; he could still remember the first time he took to the air, the wind blowing past his face. He thought that must be how Sonic felt all the time, as he was running. After all that time spent in repairs, it felt good to feel the rush against his face, but now that it landed, Tails mentally grounded himself, having more pressing matters to attend to.

"Sonic. Sonic!" the young fox yelled, tapping the blue hedgehog in the arm. The hedgehog jumped in the air, practically defying gravity. _I guess the pain medication wore off._

"Ah! Jeez, Tails, you don't have to stick me with a hot poker when you want me to wake up!"

"I only got you with my finger. So, I guess, it's a normal poker."

Sonic glared at the fox, not amused by his little joke. "Ha ha, very funny." The blue hedgehog looked around him. "Wait a minute... are we in Spagonia? I thought we were back at our house? And where is Shadow anyway?"

"Shadow is getting the next Chaos Emerald. You were supposed to rest at the house, but Eggman infiltrated it, so we had to leave."

Sonic closed his eyes and grumbled, "Figures he would do that."

_Did he mean Eggman or Shadow?_ "Huh?"

"Nevermind. You said we, right? So where is Crudele?"

"He's staying behind. Said something giving us time."

The blue hedgehog looked up at the sunset. Now that they weren't in the plane, the sun was falling beneath the horizon again. "Yeah. Time," he said with a twinge of sadness in his voice. Tails wanted to comfort him, but couldn't think of anything to say.

The two of them watched as the glowing disk sank beneath the horizon, Sonic visibly bracing himself. "Gyaaaah!" the hedgehog cried out, his whole body shifting and expanding underneath a cloud of purple smoke. Tails covered his eyes; he never could stand to see this happening to the person he considered as close as a brother. The screams were even worse than he remembered, though he supposed that the pain was even worse this time around.

"That sound... it couldn't be..." Tails heard from far behind him. The fox kit turned around and saw an old friend of his, one he hadn't seen in ages. "Professor Pickle!" he yelled excitedly, using his two tails to fly to the elderly man. "You have no idea how much we've been through in the past few weeks! We could really use your help to-"

"Is that Sonic?" the Professor said, interrupting him.

Tails drooped his shoulders. The cheerful reunion would have to wait until later. "Yes, that's him. And he's-"

"Back to changing into a beast at night. You need not explain everything to me, Tails. I do have a PhD, you know. My only question is why."

Tails laughed nervously. "It's a long story. I'll explain everything once we get back to the university."

The purple smoke that surrounded Sonic dispersed, and he collapsed on the ground. "Oh dear," Professor Pickle stated, "I guess we'll have to carry him there."

* * *

When Shadow and Knuckles stepped inside the large temple, the former couldn't help but gape. The stone on the walls was completely covered with intricate carvings, and upon closer inspection he could make out thousands of miniature pictures, intersecting each other like threads of a tapestry. "This- this place is-"

"Oh, that's right, you've never seen the histories," Knuckles laughed. "Sometimes I forget that I'm the only one who lives up here."

"How many of them are there?"

"Twenty one thousand, six hundred carvings, divided into one hundred and eight different rooms with two hundred each. They're supposed to represent the complete history of the world, as is written in prophesies passed down the echidna line, but some of them don't make sense."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the ones for our current period of time show things that never came to pass. There's actually one of you, Sonic, and some other guy fighting some giant fire monster, but that never actually happened."

"How do you know it just hasn't happened yet?"

"Because a few of the later images show things that have happened. I don't remember where exactly in the histories we are now."

Shadow turned his gaze from the carvings on the wall to the echidna. "It's irrelevant. We choose our own destinies. I'm not interested in some prophesy."

Knuckles grinned. "Same old Shadow, I guess. But unfortunately for you, the Chaos Emerald is somewhere in here, and if I've learned anything from traveling with Sonic, it's that the Emeralds tend to take you where you need to be."

* * *

"Sonic seems to be fidgeting a lot in his sleep, isn't he?" Professor Pickle commented as he, Tails, and his local research assistant carried the werehog into the university's lab.

"Yeah," Tails commented, "which only makes things harder for us." Still, the fox had noticed that this had been happening a lot since Sonic started turning into the werehog. Not all the time, but enough that it worried him. But Tails's worries were many, and frankly, at the moment, he was more concerned about getting into the building without dropping his furry friend.

"It actually is a good thing you came, Miles. I was just about to contact you about an object that we found recently on an archeological dig. I think you could definitely use it in your research."

Tails let out a nervous laugh. "Actually, Professor, getting Sonic back to normal is kind of my number one priority right now."

The man's big bushy eyebrows lifted as he chuckled. "Ah yes, but you don't even know what it is yet. I'm sure you'll agree with me that you need it."

Tails lifted one of his own eyebrows. "If you insist, Professor."

From behind them, the research assistant was panting and wheezing. "Sir, I know we're almost at the lab, but can we please put him down? My arms really hurt."

"Oh man up, young lad! Why, when I was your age, I could have lifted this boy all by myself using only one arm!" Tails knew that wasn't true; the one time he had seen pictures of the Professor in his youth, he saw that he had extremely scrawny arms and the knees were blurred from wobbling. But it wasn't kind to mess with a person's nostalgia.

The three of them finished carrying in Sonic and, there being no other place to put him, set him in an armchair. "Professor," Tails began to speak, "I was sent here by an old colleague of yours."

Professor Pickle raised his hand. "I already know that Professor Crudele worked with you, though I don't know why."

Tails responded, "All I know is that something awful is going on and that Eggman bugged my house." He suddenly jumped and snapped his fingers. "That's right! He had left us a note!"

The Professor stood in silence as Tails withdrew the paper and handed it to him. His thick brows furrowed as he read the contents out loud.

Tails, Sonic, Shadow, and Pickle-

I hope that this letter finds you safe. It is vital that you continue research, but due to extenuating circumstances, I cannot join you. You see, the head that is now in your possession may be the only evidence of Doctor Eggman's misdeeds.

At this point, the Professor looked up. "Head?"

"I'll explain later."

He shrugged and looked back to the note.

You have already been informed by Shadow, I'm sure, that there is a chip implanted in the head. That chip is a prototype for a project the Doctor was developing. He wanted to learn to control people, but I have yet to see a chip that actually achieves that result. The fact is, though, that upon trying to activate the chips in live specimens. anyone who had the chip died. That is why you must study this chip; it is best to stay one step ahead of your enemy, especially when he is attempting something like this.

I am endangering myself by even mentioning this to you, but I wish to pay for the sins of my past. Perhaps, in what life I can save by thwarting this plot, I can atone for my misdeeds.

Tails stopped. "That's all he wrote. It seems like he was in a big hurry."

If Tails could see underneath Professor Pickles's eyebrows, he would see his eyes narrow in thought. "Or like a man who knew he was running out of time."

* * *

Professor Crudele sat at his desk, awaiting the inevitable. By now, Eggman probably realized that his two greatest enemies were not actually going to Shamar. When the screen in the lab flickered to life and he could see Eggman's face, it came as no surprise to him that the Doctor did not look pleased.

"You're a fool. You have to be, to act so reckless in your situation."

The Professor grinned, despite himself. "It's not reckless to risk all you have when you have nothing."

Doctor Eggman shifted in his seat. "But you're brilliant! Almost as brilliant as me!"

"And what can I do with it? Even if it weren't for the chip you put in my head, I'd still be banned from the scientific community, exiled by everyone I'd ever worked with and cared about."

"You could've been such an asset to the Eggman Empire."

"I have enough on my conscience without aiding the likes of you. If I am to die, I will do it on my own accord."

The Doctor sighed. "So you have made your decision, knowing full well what could happen to you."

"With a smile on my face."

"I just want to tell you, before I push this button, that yours is the latest design I've made. It could still work. You may not be able to resist working for me."

Professor Crudele laughed. "For someone as smart as you," he said, "you sure are stupid. You can stick all the chips you want in my head. I will never work for you again."

Doctor Eggman grew furious and slammed his fist down on a button in front of him. The Professor jerked, a ripple of pain surging through his head- then nothing.

As his body fell to the floor, a peaceful expression on his face, Eggman looked disappointed. "What a pity. The chip still doesn't work."

**((Oh, come on, everyone knew that the one OC was going to die eventually.) Stop acting so surprised.))**


	18. A Green Emerald to Take a Risk

**CHAPTER TWELVE: A Green Emerald to Take a Risk**

**((Wow, lots of feedback on the last chapter.**

**I will say that there will be a ton of development between Shadow and Sonic... starting two chapters from now. But after that, they're together pretty much through until the end. Almost the whole story is written by this point, though it did take a turn in a direction I didn't expect at first. **

**Also, Crudele is dead, but his influence is not entirely gone. And he did die in peace.**

**Now on to werehog angst :P ))**

In his sleep, Sonic hovered in a fog filled state of limbo. Normally in his dreams, he was running through Green Hill or eating chili dogs with Shadow. But he was used to this dream too. After all, some variant of it happened again and again over the last week.

"Is anyone there?" Sonic yelled into the nothing, not actually expecting an answer. But when he turned around, the blue hedgehog realized he was not alone after all. His companion in this world always managed to unnerve him, no matter how many times he'd have this dream.

"We are," the other said in his deep, growling voice, "or should I say, I am."

Sonic was face to face with his werehog form. But... something was different. The eyes weren't green, like his own. No, the eyes on this werehog- including the whites- were pitch black. It was unnerving to look at. "You..."

"I am you, and vice versa. And frankly, I'm a bit tired of you hiding me away."

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "I won't let you out. You're..."

"I am nothing but the part of you that you'll never admit to. The part that tells you how futile your efforts are. How easily you could finish off Eggman if you only had the nerve." The werehog smirked. "How easily you could just take Shadow. You could have exactly what you wanted."

Sonic balled up his fists. "No, you're wrong!"

"Ah, but you see, we're in your mind. If I were wrong, I would not be here. Can't you feel it? I grow stronger every day, and you've started to let me out, little by little, more and more."

"No!"

"And one day, it'll just be me. You realize that don't you?"

"Shut up."

"I'm stronger than you, and I fight better too. And once you're rid of the things that hold you back, there won't be anything to stop me."

"Shut up! I will NEVER let that happen!" The blue hedgehog panted.

The werehog laughed. "I'll admit, you are persistent. More than most, even. But as much as you don't want to admit it, there is darkness inside of you. Someday, you will fall, just like the others before you."

Sonic froze. "Others? There were others?" This was news to him.

"Yes. The world's great guardians and priests and even heroes, just like you. And later," the beast said with a malicious smirk coming across his face, "the world's great destroyers."

* * *

Waking with a start, Sonic sat up in the...armchair? Looking around, he saw that he was in Professor Pickle's lab in Spagonia, and that the man in question and Tails were talking to each other in hushed tones. "What's going on?" he asked, shaking off his bad dream and focusing on the issue at hand.

"Sonic! You're awake!" The Professor remarked with a hint of surprise. "I was sure that your body's reaction to the pain would last longer."

Sonic forced a cheerful smile. "What can I say? I'm hard to take down!" His face drooped back to a serious expression. "Where is Shadow?"

Tails's face twisted into a strange expression. "He went to get the next Chaos Emerald. He's probably already at Angel Island by now."

The news surprised Sonic at first, but then he just scowled. So he's going to yell at me for leaving only to turn around to do the same thing, huh? He brought the palm of his hand to his forehead, and notices, when he touched it, it didn't hurt.

"Ah, yes. One of the Professors in the medical department took a quick look at you and gave you a treatment for your pain. While you should still rest here for a day or two to get your strength back up, you should be able to act normally afterwards."

"Forget that," he said, letting a small growl into his voice, "I need to go see Shadow now."

Tails looked almost afraid of Sonic. He was more serious than usual. "You really need to sit down, Sonic. We just want you at full strength."

"Besides," the Professor added, "after Tails told me about your problems with Chaos Control, I feel you and I could see what's wrong with this." Sticking his hand in his pocket, the Professor dug around until he pulled out a shimmering green Chaos Emerald.

"Where did you even get that?" Sonic yelled, standing out of his chair.

"I found it near Chun Nan. We were researching the possibility of a secret society that we suspected had lived there. The research fell through, but at least with this we can do something."

Sonic stretched his arm out to grab it, but it burned when it touched his skin. He let out a howl, snapping his arm back into place.

"Curious indeed," Professor Pickle remarked. "It would seem something in the inherent nature of the Chaos Emeralds is opposed with your body."

Sonic scrunched up his face. _Come to think of it, I never touched the Chaos Emeralds when they were restored as the werehog last time. Maybe he's right._

_But that won't stop me from getting to Shadow._

* * *

After almost three hours straight of walking through the temple, Shadow began to wonder if he would ever reach his destination. It was a gigantic maze; supposedly, the echidnas held their treasures and relics here. Shadow was lucky to have Knuckles with him; otherwise, he'd never find his way through. Knuckles was not only a Guardian, but also a treasure hunter. If Shadow had to choose anyone to go through here with, Knuckles would definitely be... his second choice.

And his first choice wasn't currently an option.

"Right now we're passing through the area devoted to what you call the Middle Ages. There aren't a lot of records from that time, so we aren't sure how accurate the prophesies were here." Knuckles had been explaining all the different time periods to Shadow while they walked through the twisting and turning halls. Knuckles seemed unusually gleeful, like a child showing off his cool toy. It annoyed Shadow at first, but since there was nothing else to do, he listened attentively, occasionally even asking a question.

"What gives you that impression?"

The echidna laughed. "If you look at that carving at the end, you're supposed to see King Arthur. But it looks just like Sonic. It's uncanny!"

"Maybe it's vandalism."

"I doubt it. The only people who would go this deep in the maze are other echidnas, who respect this place, and fools who are more interested in treasure than history."

"Fools like me, huh?"

Knuckles shot Shadow a glare, but then continued walking. "And they wouldn't get his far. The whole place is filled with traps, and even though they were set before my time, they work pretty well."

Shadow didn't want to ask how exactly he knew that, so he changed the subject. "You're positive the Chaos Emerald is in here?"

Knuckles nodded his head. "This is where they tend to show up when they come here. Some people even call this place Lost Labyrinth Zone."

"I see."

The conversation ended there for a minute, as the two kept weaving through the temple, now past the section devoted to medieval times. "There's just one thing I don't get about this whole situation, Shadow."

"I thought I had explained the matter thoroughly."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "You did, but what confuses me isn't about Sonic, or Eggman, or even this Professor guy. I'm more confused about you. Why are you doing all this?"

Shadow stopped. "Is it that strange?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, all I've ever seen you two do is fight and yell at each other. Why would you want to help him?"

Shadow stumbled on himself for a while, not wanting to answer, when a low rumble began to shake the temple. Shadow was somewhat relieved for the distraction, but immediately snapped back to the task at hand. "Are we in some sort of danger?"

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "No, but whatever idiot tried to break in here without a guide is."

* * *

Sonic was panting. Chaos Controlling to Angel Island, or as close as he could get to it, may have been pretty high on the list of stupid things he had done. But it didn't matter. He had to come here. He had to find Shadow and tell him... what, exactly? That he didn't want Shadow to run away? That being away from him became too much to bear?

That he loved him?

He didn't quite know. He just knew that he needed to say... something. So after what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, when Tails and Professor Pickle fell asleep at their desks, Sonic snuck away one of the Chaos Emeralds. It still burned like hell at the touch, pain meds or no, but he was determined to get to Angel Island, and this was the only way to get there quickly. With a fast Chaos Control, he guided himself to Angel Island, and ended up high above the island, whereafter he plummeted to the ground. And now he was dealing with the consequences. His entire body ached and writhed from both the pain of transport and falling face first into what he was sure was the echidna's sacred dirt. "Ow," he mumbled to himself, slowly standing out of the hole he made. "If it were anyone but Shadow, I'd say it wasn't worth it."

Speaking of which, now that he was here, how would he find Shadow? The Chaos Emeralds reacted to each other, but frankly, even the thought of touching the green emerald again made Sonic wince. He picked it up by the tips of his claws, careful not to make contact with the skin. "Where is Shadow, anyway?" Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the sounds around him. One of the advantages to this form was having certain senses heightened, including his sense of hearing. He never dwelled on it much; it was just another reminder of what he turned into, and until now he didn't need it. But now he was focusing, listening in the wind to every tree branch rustling, every gust of wind, every falling stone. He treaded ground very carefully, going slowly so as to not disturb the waves of sound.

Such as the echos of footsteps. Footsteps that weren't his.

Sonic's ears perked up excitedly, following the faint sounds of two foreign pairs of feet._ It must be Shadow and Knuckles,_ he thought, not knowing of anyone else who would be on the island. _But it sounds like they're stepping on stone. Is there a building nearby?_

He kept rushing toward the stepping, feeling himself get closer and closer. The Chaos Emerald in his claws shone more brightly, as if in anticipation. I must be getting close, he thought as he stepped inside a large stone structure. To his dismay, the building was entirely made of stone, and there were no tracks to follow. What's more, it looked like an ornate maze. "If I just run through, I'll find them eventually. I've gotten this far."

But as he stepped into what he thought was the second room, he could hear the walls falling around him. "Wait!" he yelled, but as the werehog, he wasn't fast enough to get out. The carefully laid trap descended upon him, and the stone walls fell into place, locking him in.


	19. The Beast Unleashed

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Beast Unleashed**

Sonic banged on the walls with his gigantic fists, but this place was well designed; not even the intricate carvings on the wall dented. "No no no no no!" he yelled, not stopping his incessant pounding until he felt a sharp pain in his hand. Wincing, he looked down at his hand to see a small gash, which had just begun to bleed. "Well that's just great," he muttered.

He looked up at the wall, truly seeing it for the first time. He hadn't paid attention to the carvings before, more focused on finding Shadow, but having nothing else to do, he looked closely. In one picture, there were a large group of people, healing and helping others. In the next, there were large beasts, attacking a small village.

"The world's greatest heroes... becoming the world's greatest destroyers," Sonic muttered. That dream... could it have some truth to it? He felt himself slipping, that was true. Every once in a while, he could feel himself snap, getting more violent. But a destroyer? He didn't have it in him to hurt other people, or at least so he'd like to think. But then again, if these pictures were to be believed, some of these people were actually healers, never fighting at all. And they lost to the monster.

It was an unsettling thought.

The cut on his hand now was letting out a faint purple smoke in addition to the blood. _I don't want to be a monster, _Sonic thought, _but will I have any choice?_

Knuckles and Shadow could hear the thudding sounds become more and more insistent. "Whatever's in there has to be really strong," Knuckles said. "Normally no sound can get through there."

"Is it possible for him to break down the door?"

"Thankfully, no. The walls are extremely durable; I don't even know how they were able to carve them. But short of some kind of super weapon, those doors wouldn't come down unless I intervened."

The banging got louder, and then suddenly stopped. "Do you think he already ran out of air?" Shadow asked, a cruel half smile creeping on his face.

"No, there should be enough air to last until I come back there. I'll take care of it on the way back. In the meantime," he said, stepping into the seventy third room, "the next Chaos Emerald should be in here somewhere."

Shadow took a moment to look over his surroundings. The entire room was filled with barrels and boxes. They were made of wood and didn't have any rot on them, so he guessed they were new. "What is all this?" the black hedgehog asked.

"I tend to store things here. Nobody else can get to this part of the temple, and it is our time period's room, after all."

Shadow's eyes widened. "This is our time?"

Knuckles smiled. "Yep. And most of us show up in at least one of the pictures, so if you need an ego boost..."

"I am not important."

Knuckles stopped abruptly. "What do you mean, you aren't important? You're the Ultimate Lifeform, aren't you? And how many times have you saved the world by now?"

"I'm an experiment gone wrong, and I've caused so much pain. Because of me, many people have died. Good people. Innocent people." Shadow cast his eyes to the floor. "If I were never born, the world would be a much better place. I don't matter to you, or to Sonic, or to anyone else. After I help Sonic get back to his normal self, I'll disappear for good."

Knuckles didn't quite know how to respond so he didn't. "Since I am in the room," Shadow stated, "You should help whoever or whatever is trapped in the walls. I'll Chaos Control out."

The red echidna looked uneasy, but nodded. "I trust you, Shadow. Just be careful." He ran out of the room, leaving Shadow alone with boxes and carvings.

* * *

Pacing back and forth on all fours, Sonic could feel himself going crazy. He came here to find Shadow, not be cooped up in some tiny little room.

Suddenly, he heard a scratching sound from the walls. He turned to look around, and he saw that someone was removing the picture of the healers and defenders from the wall. The stone fell, and he heard a familiar voice yell, "Gah! It hit my foot!"

"Knuckles! Am I glad to hear your voice!"

"As you should be, Sonic. The red echidna's face stuck itself through the hole in the wall. "Whoa," he said, his eyes widening in surprise, "Shadow told be that you turned into some kind of wolf- thing at night, but I gotta admit, I didn't expect you to look this scary."

Sonic flinched, not wanting to be reminded of his form. "Where is Shadow?" he said, wanting to cut straight to the point.

"By now? He's probably found the Chaos Emerald and moved on. I thought you were supposed to be resting at your place?"

Sonic growled. "I'm tired of people telling me what I'm supposed to do. And moved on where?" he said, staying persistent.

"To find the next one. There aren't too many left, and he wants to get you back to normal as quickly as possible."

Sonic shouldn't have felt hurt by this. He knew it; it was just concern for his wellbeing, and he of all people knew time was running out. But the other fact of it was that before this, Sonic had never been around Shadow for very long. It was always a race here, fighting a monster there, but never talking, never saying much of anything. And with each moment he spent with Shadow, finding his way, he wanted to know more, to do more. The fact that Shadow wanted to be done with this journey they were taking together stung. "I need to find him."

Knuckles had a concerned look on his face. "Sonic, has Shadow been acting normally around you?"

Sonic shook. "What do you mean by that?"

The echidna looked downcast. "When he talks about you, he gets really upset. More so than usual. He said that he was going to finish helping you, and then 'disappear.'"

Sonic froze. _Disappear? What does that mean?_ Several possibilities ran through his head, each more terrible than the last. _Is he going to vanish from my life? No, _he thought. _Not after all this. He can't do that to me. He wouldn't. _Then an even worse thought went in his head. _Could he be talking about trying to die? He's been saying how he doesn't matter, how I don't care about him._ Sonic could feel himself slipping, but the thoughts just kept on coming. _Could he think I want him gone? I can't even imagine him dead. I can't._

_I won't._

A wave of strange energy coursed through the werehog's body and he could feel his fur stand on end, growing even darker than before. He howled in pain, at first, but then it turned into roaring, biting laughter. "Sonic," Knuckles asked, a hint of worry seeping into his voice, "are you okay?"

The laughter died down, and Sonic looked at Knuckles with now pitch black eyes. "No," he said, smiling with razor sharp teeth, "but after I'm done, everything will be."

* * *

Shadow finished digging through the boxes of junk that lined the floor. Some of the objects inside them seemed worthless; clothes with burn marks, books with faded ink and broken spines, and the shattered remains of a crystal scepter. But thus far, the emerald was nowhere to be found. "Damn," he grumbled, "why does Knuckles have to have so much garbage in here?" He closed his eyes. Digging through the trash would do him no good. _What was it that the Guardian had said? That the Chaos Emeralds tended to show up where you needed to be?_ _Tsk,_ he thought,_ that's superstitious nonsense._ Still, it couldn't hurt him to check the walls of this room. Knuckles said the carvings were of his time, and certainly he could see his resemblance in a few of the wall's pictures. But some of it didn't make sense. He could see himself destroying Black Doom in one, and Sonic destroying what he assumed to be Perfect Chaos in another. But he saw two pictures that didn't quite fit. One of them was Sonic, Shadow, and some third hedgehog fighting some giant fire creature. Knuckles had told him about that one. But the other that didn't make sense was a few later. It looked like Sonic in his werehog form, but his eyes were completely dark, and he was destroying a town. Shadow was in the corner, pointing what appeared to be a gun at him. _That can't be right, _he thought. But surely enough, as he looked down, he saw a shining white emerald, right in front of the image. _This can't be our future, _he thought. _I won't allow it._

A loud howl sounded through the building, changing to a roar. _That almost sounds like... no, it can't be..._ After he heard a growl, Shadow grabbed the Chaos Emerald and rushed through the temple. _Sonic, I don't know why you're here, but I'm coming! _He ran through at what would normally be break-neck speed, dodging trap after trap, only to find after rushing through that the door that was supposedly unbreakable had been blown clean off the wall.

**((Wow. I managed to put both the title of the fiction AND the title of the game in this chapter. I feel like I'll die of cheesiness.))**


	20. A White Emerald to Bring Him Back

**CHAPTER TWENTY: A White Emerald to Bring Him Back**

**((Hi everyone! I'm writing the finale this week, though there's still about a month's worth of updates before you get to it. I've been writing like crazy, trying to finish this before November so I can focus on Nanowrimo and its original story.**

**That also means that I'm making the final decision on my next story this week, so it's your last chance to do the poll on my page. Come next Wednesday, it'll be closed. Thanks for voting, for reading, for reviewing, and generally being awesome people. Now on to the story!))**

Knuckles was running for his life, as a deranged Sonic chased after him. Or was it really Sonic anymore? The blue hedgehog always fought, but never so ferociously or without a just cause. The didn't know if this was just part of Sonic's transformation that would go away at dawn or whether this darker Sonic was here to stay, and Knuckles wouldn't take drastic action unless he could know for sure. And he was busy enough as it was; this Sonic may not be as fast as the hedgehog he knew so well, but he was plenty fast enough to catch up with him, and his strength was unbelievable. How he smashed the door like that... that was supposed to be impossible. There was a reason the werewolves were fabled for their destructive power, and it was all the echidna could do to keep one step ahead of the beast's sharp claws. "Sonic, stop this! This isn't you!" he yelled, gasping for breath.

"What does it matter anymore? Why does anything matter?" The werehog was roaring in madness, his face stuck in a contorted expression of anger. None of this made any sense to Knuckles, who could only dodge the blows his friend- or former friend- dished out. He could feel his moves get slower as he tired, the werehog advancing, getting closer and closer to the skin, until he finally slashed into the echidna's left shoulder with his claws. The echidna cried out more in surprise than in pain; until now, he couldn't believe that Sonic was actually attacking him. But by the grin on the beast's face, it became very clear that he wasn't just going to try to kill him. He was going to rip him to shreds first. "Nothing I do can change anything. He's gone. He'll always be gone," the beast growled to himself, "but perhaps there is some pleasure in killing the messenger."

The beast leaped, and Knuckles, too preoccupied by the injury to move away in time, got knocked to the ground. His arms were pinned down, the weight of the werehog snapping the bones, and his face was underneath the snarling snout. Knuckles looked deep into the monster's eyes. They were empty, soulless. Whatever this was, it wasn't Sonic.

Which meant that Sonic had given up.

With a swipe of his paw, the werehog made four gashes across the echidna's face. He laughed cruelly, though the hurt in his voice was still there. "A scar to suit a warrior. But how have you protected the Master Emerald so long? You couldn't hold me back. You couldn't even touch me. Not like anything would ever want to." His face flashed a brief pained expression, but it was gone as soon as it came. "If I am to be cursed," he said with conviction, "then everybody else can share hell with me."

The werehog lifted his paw in the air, preparing for the final blow, and Knuckles flinched. _At least, as a warrior, I can die in battle. And there is no opponent more worthy than Sonic. If only I could've helped him. If only I could've saved him._

After bracing himself for what seemed like ages, the echidna opened one eye to see that something was grabbing the werehog's arm. The beast itself was twitching. Knuckles was confounded. _What could possibly hold something like his strength back?_ The echidna could barely make out the figure over the glare of the sun behind him as dawn broke, only seeing large spikes. _Wait. Dawn!_ He pushed himself away from Sonic and backed up just before a cloud of purple smoke enveloped him, shifting his body back into his normal form, leaving a very confused hedgehog quivering in the blood stained grass. "Knuckles, did I... did I just?" He turned around to face the figure, and to Knuckles, it seemed as though a thousand emotions passed across his face at once. "Shadow?"

The figure stepped forward, surely enough, holding four Chaos Emeralds in his hands. "Hello, faker."

* * *

The next several hours consisted of getting a doctor to come up to the Sky Sanctuary (as Knuckles, even in his injured state, refused to leave the Master Emerald to go to a hospital) and Sonic isolating himself in a separate room of the Master Emerald's temple, going from event to event over in his head. How could he have let this happen? Chip had told him all those years ago that his willpower was the reason he didn't fall to Dark Gaia. But one moment of doubt, one thought of Shadow gone, either by his own choice or by death, and he cracked. _I don't deserve to be called a hero_, the blue hedgehog thought, his eyes welling up with tears against his will. He wiped the water away, dampening the gloves on his hands, and curled up in a ball. _If I could fall so easily..._

A loud knocking sound vibrated off the stone walls. "Sonic?" a deep voice called, echoing through the chamber. The blue hedgehog froze for a second before responding.

"Shadow?"

The dark figure walked through the door. His fur was ragged from traveling and running, and dust patches on the surface suggested he had been digging around as well. "You look like a mess," Sonic commented.

Shadow scoffed. "Not nearly as much as you."

The blue hedgehog looked down, and saw that he was right. Patches of fur were coming off, probably due to the stress of all of the pain he was in, and Sonic couldn't remember the last time he brushed it. Looking closely at his hands and pulling off the gloves, he could see dried blood. "So I did actually attack Knuckles? It wasn't a crazy dream?"

The black hedgehog paused. "I'm afraid not."

"Everything about it seemed so surreal. That door came clean off. Everything felt heavy..." Sonic could feel himself trailing off.

"I assure you, it was all very real. But what I want to know is what spurred the reaction."

Sonic looked up at Shadow, and for the first time in a long time, there wasn't a single trace of hope left in his eyes. He wouldn't say a word.

"This isn't the first time this has happened to someone." Sonic's eyes widened, but Shadow kept going. "The Guardian told me that it used to happen when people would give into their darkness. That it would grow too great, and consume them. What happened to you that could make you do that?"

The hedgehog stirred. He was afraid to say what happened. It was embarrassing, and it could change how the black hedgehog saw him forever. But after what Knuckles had said, Sonic knew he was going to lose him either way.

It was time for the truth.

"I went through hell to get here, you know?" Shadow shifted in stance, not used to hearing Sonic swear, or hearing him be serious in general. The blue hedgehog always tried to hide when he was scared or frustrated, only slipping around those he really trusted, or when it really did become too much to bear. Shadow couldn't decide which of the two it was. "I used Chaos Control, and it felt like my whole body was burning. Once I got here I ran to find you, only to be trapped in a stone room, one I couldn't even get out of. And after being in this room for what seemed like hours, Knuckles tells me that you're going to leave. To disappear." He clenched his fists, preparing for the biggest reveal. "Shadow, I care too much about you. I couldn't even think about you gone, not caring about leaving me behind. And I snapped."

Shadow could only show a blank expression as he walked over to Sonic and outstretched his arm. "Get up," he said, cold as ice. Sonic, thoroughly confused, grabbed the hand and stood up. The Ultimate Lifeform's paused a moment, sighed, and then slapped him across the face. Green eyes widened in surprise.

"Shadow wha-"

"How dare you insult me like that!" Shadow's red eyes were glowing with... rage? No, this wasn't angry. It was almost as if the black hedgehog was...hurt. "Sonic, that day, when we were trapped in that strange place with nothing but white walls and echoes of our past, I tried to talk to you. I did the only thing that I knew would slow you down. I even took a Chaos Emerald, knowing that you would want it." Sonic remembered all too well. When he found Shadow in that cold, empty place, he had said that he didn't know how or why they were there, but only wanted to fight with him.

"That's why you fought with me?"

"But it wasn't enough for you," the black hedgehog continued. "I thought that I would defeat you. At worst, I thought that you'd stop to see if I was okay. But you just kept running, and you left me there." A pain started to grow in Sonic's chest. _So after all this time, he's finally talking about this, huh?_ Sonic felt wracked with guilt. _If he only knew why I kept running...why I left him behind..._

"Shadow, I..."

"And how could you possibly think I didn't care about you!" Shadow interrupted. "I went across the world for you, with you every step of the way. Why did you think I did that? For _fun_?"

The hedgehog fell silent. The pain in his chest was festering, like thousands of butterflies with steel wings grazing through his body.

"Wasn't I the one that told you that being apart from you hurt? That you constantly going away made me upset?" The Ultimate Lifeform was panting now, trying to keep himself together. "I went away because I thought that was what you wanted. I thought that there was no chance of..."

"It's not what I wanted."

Shadow stopped. The words had been barely audible. Did he imagine them?

"It's not," Sonic repeated, slightly louder this time. Shadow froze. This was real. This was happening. "I just don't know what to do. How do I even act around you, Shadow? Before, I kept running because I couldn't see why you'd want to be with someone so different from you as me. I didn't want to have to see you embarassed because the 'blue blur' got the best of you." Shadow was about to interject, but Sonic just kept going, letting off what had been welling up for a long time now. "And now? I'm fast, sure, but I turn into this... thing at night," he said with a scoff. He kicked a rock, and it hit one of the trees in the distance. "Giant claws, sharp teeth, and now, a beastly attitude to match. So forgive me if I didn't you'd want to be around a monster like me."

"Want to be around you?" Shadow asked forcefully. Sonic felt his hands get clutched in the other hedgehog's, who gripped them tightly. His heartbeat sped up as the other hedgehog spoke. "Of course I want to be around you. I care about you. I need you. I lo- lo-" The hedgehog was choking on his words, as Sonic grew impatient. Spit it out man!

The black hedgehog closed his eyes. "No," he mumbled to himself, "it's better to show him than tell him." Before the blue hedgehog could ask him what he meant, Shadow shifted his hands from the other's hands to the sides of his face. Sonic felt the blood rush to his cheeks in a furious blush.

"He-hey! What are you-" Sonic began, but was cut off by a sudden, forceful kiss on the lips. It happened so quickly that couldn't even close his eyes, only looking at Shadow's fur up close in disbelief. _Is this really happening? Am I dreaming?_ It lasted only a moment, before Shadow shoved the other away. "Chaos," he said, shocked at himself, "I'm sorry. I don't know what I-"

It was Sonic's turn to interrupt with a kiss of his own. The world dissolved into electricity, and for once, all felt right with the world.


	21. The Bite

**CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: The Bite**

**((This week has been nuts, with two of my friends going to the hospital with potentially fatal problems. They're both okay, though, and I still managed to post. Thanks for reading, you guys.))**

The dams were broken, the walls down, the fences torn out post by post as Sonic and Shadow kissed that night. Their hands braced each other's faces, as if they thought that if they let go, the other would run away. It wasn't entirely unjustified; before now, Sonic and Shadow were two separate heroes, paths only crossing briefly before they parted again to beat the next robot or gain the next Emerald. But now, their hearts raced with adrenaline not because they were fighting, but because they were so intensely loving. The world was spinning in surprised, happy delirium Sonic loved Shadow. Shadow loved Sonic. And now, at long last, they both finally knew.

Shadow couldn't notice how warm Sonic's lips felt on his as blood rushed through them. Their heat mixed together in the otherwise cool room of the temple, a light moan and occasional brushing sound only occasionally breaking the silence of the holy ground, emphasizing that it was just the two of them, together at last. Shadow's fingers ran themselves along the blue quills, the ends flicking against his glove. One of them stuck to the white fabric and pricked his skin, but Shadow hardly cared.

As they continued, Sonic grew bolder and bolder in his advancements, moving from kissing on the mouth to the cheek, then down into his neck. "Sonic..." Shadow started talking, but Sonic's tightening grip told him that now was not the time for words. Shadow was shaken out of his peaceful moment when he felt teeth make contact with his neck. Shadow was surprised. Rouge always talked about "love bites," but Shadow never thought she meant something so literal. He found himself enjoying the feeling, the rough touch making his fur stand on end. "Sonic, please-"

But the hedgehog's words were cut off when his partner suddenly jerked upwards, pushed him off, and knocked him against the wall. Shadow grabbed the bite. _Did I do something? What just happened?_ He was just about to go back in when he saw that the blue hedgehog wasn't smiling, but instead had an expression of worry on his face as he glanced at Shadow's neck. "What have I done?" the blue hedgehog asked quietly, almost as if to himself.

_It wasn't me?_ Shadow started walking back to his partner, a confused expression crossing his face. "What are you..."

"Get away from me!"

Sonic shoved Shadow away again, the latter slamming against the hard stone walls. "Sonic-"

"Are you bleeding from where I bit you?"

"What?"

"I said, are you bleeding from where I bit you?"

It took a few seconds for Shadow to realize that he was talking about the bite on the neck. He took his hand off and saw tiny dots of blood. "Not much. It was just a scratch."

Sonic's eyes widened, going from worry to panic. "I'm sorry, Shadow. I'm so, so sorry!" The blue hedgehog paced back and forth. "There's got to be some way to fix it. there has to."

"Fix what? Sonic, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Wolf's Bane! That's supposed to fix it. I'll cure you Shadow, don't worry."

"What is Wolf's Bane? Cure what? Sonic?"

But Shadow's question only echoed in the stone walls, Sonic already gone in a blur. Shadow didn't know whether be angry or disappointed, so he rubbed his forehead, forgoing both for confusion. They finally admitted what they felt, it was happening... and, though he normally didn't believe in such things, he wondered if it was fate turning on him again.

Knuckles limped into the room, heavily bandaged but largely okay. "Hey Shadow."

The black hedgehog glanced at him. "Should you be walking in your condition?"

The echidna smirked. "I come from a long line of warriors tasked with guarding the Master Emerald. It'll take more than a mangy mutt to hold me down. Speaking of which, was that Sonic running out of here?"

Shadow grimaced. "Yes, though I don't know why he left in such a hurry. We were..." he scrambled for a lie, "...fighting, and he grew worried when he found that he broke skin when he bit me." He looked down at his glove to see the small blue quill poking out. It would be a while before he could tell the echidna what really happened in the temple. That is, if he ever would.

Knuckles covered his mouth for a second before letting out a deep throated laugh, then wincing from the pain in his side. Shadow could've sworn the building shook a little. "What's so funny?" he said with a complete lack of amusement on his face.

Tears were welling in Knuckles's eyes. "Oh this is rich. Sonic thinks he turned you into a werehog!"

* * *

Back in Spagonia, Tails was just waking up, realizing he fell asleep at his desk. "What time is it?" he asked to himself as he looked up, rubbing one of his eyes. He turned around to get the professor when he noticed something amiss. Yesterday, there had been two Chaos Emeralds on that table. That morning, there was only one. And missing along with it was...

"Sonic!" the two tailed fox yelled, running into the main laboratory. He was upset, but not entirely surprised, to see that the chair the blue hedgehog had been sleeping in was now empty, save for a few quills stuck in the fabric. Tails groaned in frustration. "Professor," he called out, "Sonic's gone. And so is one of the Chaos Emeralds."

Professor Pickle walked out from a side office, yawning. Tails would've laughed at the old man's sleeping cap had the circumstances been any different, but for the moment he was concerned about his friend. The Professor just walked up to the fox, a complete lack of surprise flashing across his face. "Are you talking about Sonic leaving?"

The fox's eyes widened. "You knew?"

Professor Pickle laughed. "Of course, my boy, I know everything that goes on in here." The man waved his hand, beckoning Tails into the room he just walked out of. When the two tailed fox stepped through, he was surprised by the sheer difference between the rooms. Whereas the main study, where he always did his work upon visiting, was a large library, filled with musty old books and various knick knacks from all over the world, this room seemed more like his own workshop; monitors lined the walls, various things beeped and blooped, and the entire room glowed with electronics. In fact, if it weren't for the single bed in the corner, this place would've been just like one of Eggman's bases. "What is this place?" he asked aloud. He had worked with Professor Pickle since before the world split, but he had never gone in this room.

The Professor's eyes gained a tint of sadness, like it hurt him to be in this place. "Long ago, this was Professor Crudele's area. He designed it himself; he always was a brilliant engineer."

Tails wrung his hands together. "Are these monitors..."

"They aren't Doctor Eggman's, if that's what you're wondering. Though the two of them had a common influence. Both he and Crudele were students of mine, at one point or another, and though I don't look it, I know my way around with a wrench, myself."

Tails looked up at the man, seeing the wrinkles on his face. He supposed that it made sense; Eggman had to get his doctorate from somewhere. But the three of them seemed entirely different. Pickle was a kindly man, more interested in a simple life of books and tea than fame or glory. Eggman was quite possibly insane from his search for power, not letting anything get in his way. And Crudele... he was an enigma, not motivated by power or peace. Though now was certainly too late to question his motivations.

"He must've been some student to warrant his own lab."

The Professor smiled in nostalgia. "He was. Absolutely brilliant boy. Like yourself, in some respects. Though he tended toward biology, mostly. He was fascinated by the Chaos Emeralds and how they effected the internal structures of animals. It used to be his life's work." His smile faded. "He was making great strides, but it wasn't fast enough for the university. They threatened to pull his funding. So he did the unthinkable..."

Tails knew not to press the matter further, instead watching as Professor Pickle hit buttons, bringing up views of the whole lab on the screens. "After I was abducted all those years ago, when the world split open, I installed cameras through my lab." Tails raised an eyebrow, but Crudele brushed it off with the wave of his hand. "It is my research, after all. I should've protected it- and myself- better than that in the first place. The cameras have motion detectors, and at about eleven last night, while we were working, he activated them by grabbing one of the Chaos Emeralds." He pressed a button on the keypad, and Tails saw Sonic grab one of the Chaos Emeralds and flinching in pain for a split second before disappearing in a flash of light.

"So he wasn't abducted?"

"No- somehow, he was still able to Chaos Control. Wherever he is right now, he's alright. Hurting like the dickens, but alright."

This was news to Tails. From everything he had seen in the blood work, the artificial Dark Gaia should have made it nearly impossible for the hedgehog to even touch the stone, let alone use its power. And what's more, Sonic almost never used Chaos Control unless he felt it was urgent. World stopping urgent.

"Professor," the fox asked, "have you looked at Sonic's blood samples yet?"

He nodded. "Yes, and I've seen the Dark Gaia concentrations. But there isn't anything to worry about."

The fox looked up at him with large eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. The only thing that could make Dark Gaia grow faster is dark emotions. As long as Sonic stays his cheerful self, we have nothing to worry about."

* * *

Shadow paused a moment in confusion before asking the echidna, "What?" That question kept popping up today, and it seemed to never get answered.

"Don't worry, you're not actually going to!" Knuckles said, clutching his side after laughing so hard. "Sonic's just seen one too many horror movies, I guess."

"I don't follow," Shadow replied. He never watched television, preferring books if he ever had spare time. And even then, he only read classics. He had never even heard of werewolves before this all happened.

The echidna knew this and sighed, almost as though he had trouble believing he actually had to explain something like this. "Whenever there's a werewolf on TV, they can make other werewolves by biting people."

Shadow put his hands to his chest. "So am I going to..."

Knuckles groaned. "Chaos, no. It's just a silly superstition."

"I thought all of this was a silly superstition."

Knuckles raised an eye ridge at Shadow. "Don't question me on this, Shadow. I'm the one who knows the history."

Shadow suddenly snapped to a different subject. "He said he was going to get wolf's bane."

"It's a plant rumored to stop the effects of lycanthropy." Shadow gave him a puzzled look, and Knuckles sighed again. "Becoming a werewolf. He thinks that can stop it from hurting you. Again, more stupid superstition. Next thing you know, he'll think that he can be hurt by silver bullets."

Shadow shook for a second. _He can't? _he wondered to himself, but more quickly went to the more relevant question. "Okay, so does this plant actually exist, or is that a myth too?"

"Oh no, it exists." Knuckles walked towards the doorway, Shadow following. "Wolf's Bane is a dark blue flower. Believe it or not, there's a place close to his house that grows it. But it actually is pretty poisonous when ingested directly, so you should catch up with him before he gets to it. If Sonic has any idea what he's doing he'll be there within the hour."

Shadow closed his eyes. "Knuckles, honestly. Sonic never has any idea what he's doing."

And he was gone.

* * *

Far away, in Eggman's base, he had just finished typing a message. Orbot and Cubot tried looking his shoulder, but could only read a few words before they were swatted away by the Doctor's gloved hand. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are you writing to GUN? Aside from Sonic, they are your biggest enemies," Orbot asked.

Cubot also wanted to know. "Yeah, Doc. It just seems weird to me."

The Doctor's smile grew. "Though the Professor's death was an unfortunate setback, I can use it to my advantage. Soon, GUN will be receiving an anonymous tip that Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog were responsible for the disappearance and recent death of one Professor Crudele."

The two robots looked at each other, then turned back to the Doctor as Orbot asked, "Why would they believe you? Sonic and Shadow are heroes."

A gloved hand stroked his mustache. "Ah, but it doesn't matter if they believe the story. They just need an excuse. After all, if there's two things GUN wants an excuse to control," he said with an evil glint in his eye, "it's the Ultimate Lifeform and a potential mutant weapon."


	22. I Don't Want A Life Without You

**CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: I Don't Want A Life Without You**

**((I'm posting this early because I have a short announcement to make. I'm changing my PenName this week due to my roommate finding my fanfic, and after a long, lengthy explanation of "Yeah, Sonic and Shadow are kissing. Yes, I realize how 'weird' that is" over and over, I decided I needed a PenName that isn't the same as my names on everything else. In short, by Wednesday, you'll be able to find my other stuff from here, but random people on Tumblr won't be able to find me.**

**In related news, apparently if you type "Sonic with fleas" on Google, my terrible fic is the third result. I feel famous and ashamed at the same time.**

**Sorry for the inconvenience, but I figured an early chapter would make up for it.))**

It was at this time that Sonic was grateful for Amy's short stint shadowing a nurse a few years ago. He still remembered the day he came to his house and saw a patch of assorted flowers and herbs that weren't there when he left, and the pink hedgehog who was planting them. She spent an afternoon clinging to his arm and telling about the different medicinal uses for each plant. "After all," she had said, "if I can possibly save the life of the person I love, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

And now he was going to save the person he actually loved. An unexpected turn of events.

Sonic ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward the house. _Was it the yellow flowers or the blue that were Wolfsbane? _he wondered in his head, growing more frustrated. _Darn it! Why hadn't I paid attention to Amy? Now somebody's life actually is in danger, and I don't know the plant to save him from the one that helps with blisters! _The sun was setting, he knew, and given what happened the night before, he couldn't trust himself alone at night. It was a huge risk just to be here. But after what Sonic had done to Shadow, it was a risk he had to take.

Sonic facepalmed, still mid-stride. He couldn't believe how eager he had been, how he could let himself bite Shadow. Granted, Sonic didn't know much about werehogs or wolves or whatever he actually was, but he did know that in all the stories, when one bit you, you turned into one. It was bad enough that he had this curse on him, but to give it to Shadow, the one he most cared for- that was unforgivable in his book. He wasn't even sure if the plant would help, but he had to try. He would save Shadow. Not just because he was a hero or because saving people was his job, but because it was his fault Shadow was there in the first place.

In the distance, Sonic could see his house, and next to it the small patch of flowers. _If I can't remember which flower is the right one, I'll just have to pull all of them. I'll yank out every last plant if it means I can help him._ He began to approach the garden, but he was interrupted by a small group of people in black suits, pointing weapons at him. "Freeze! Sonic the Hedgehog, you are under arrest for the suspected kidnapping and murder of Christopher Crudele. Come with us quietly, or we will use force."

He stopped running, completely confused. Murder? Sonic could maybe understand kidnapping, but not murder. "Um, did you even check inside the house? Crudele is still alive in there, probably looking at some kind of sample again."

The mass of people stayed stern. "He is inside. He is also dead." Sonic's head began to spin, but the men in the black suits kept yelling at him. "Please come with us calmly."

Sonic sprinted around them, dodging the occasional bullet, and went inside, slamming the door behind him._ Could it be true? No,_ he assured himself, _Crudele couldn't possibly be-_

He stopped cold about halfway down the steps. Crudele was on the floor, looking like so many of the dead he had found in Holoska. A faint smile across his face, no blood, no anything. The blue hedgehog tiptoed towards the body, hoping the man was just asleep. He lifted the man's head and fingered through his hair. A scar along the back. "Eggman," he grumbled, balling his fist. Tears welled in his eyes. _I couldn't save him. First those people in Holoska, then Shadow, and now him. _He laughed to himself. _I'm pretty worthless as a hero, aren't I?_

The sun descended beneath the horizon. "Sonic the Hedgehog, we demand you come out now, or you will be held with a count of obstruction of the law."

_This...this all is Eggman's fault. _Sonic felt his body twisting and writhing, but instead of screaming in pain, he growled in a fresh anger. _I'll kill him,_ he thought, his eyes turning back to their pitch black color, _I'll kill him if it's the last thing I do! _Newly grown claws scratched the floor as the now giant body lumbered up the stairs. With an aggressive punch, the door flew from its hinges, nearly hitting one of the men in black clothing. "I don't have time for you right now," the werehog growled, "and if you decide to fight me now... let's just say your safety isn't guaranteed."

The gunmen opened fire. The werehog grinned, its claws itching for blood, and it pounced, slicing the nearest soldier's chest.

* * *

Shadow needed to get to a far enough distance from the floating island to Chaos Control without interference from the Master Emerald. It should've been an easy task; he had four Chaos Emeralds with him. But he had more difficulty concentrating on his chosen destination than usual. Sonic kissed him. Sonic had kissed _him_! He still couldn't quite grasp the mixture of feelings racing through his mind. Now, he couldn't deny his affections for the blue hedgehog anymore, if the rush of adrenaline was any indication. It was freeing, but also terrifying. What if it didn't mean anything to Sonic? And even if it did, then what were the two of them now? The Ultimate Lifeform would kick himself for acting like some immature teenager, but as he tried to remind himself, there was no time for worrying about such foolish things.

In a flash of Chaos Energy, Shadow landed behind Sonic's house. A sound could be heard from the other side of the house; it was a man speaking through a megaphone. "Sonic the Hedgehog, you are under arrest for the suspected kidnapping and murder of Christopher Crudele. Come with us quietly, or we will use force." Shadow raised an eye ridge. Crudele was dead? And more importantly, who was trying to arrest Sonic without evidence? This had to be GUN. Nobody else would act so out of line.

A few fired bullets and a slamming sound made Shadow worry. He could see the sun setting, and if it really was Sonic they were talking to, then soon he would turn back into the werehog again. "Sonic the Hedgehog, we demand you come out now, or you will be held with a count of obstruction of the law," the megaphone man said. Shadow had to chuckle. Since when does Sonic follow any rules but his own? It was something Shadow had to admire. Sonic didn't care what was easy or what others expected; only about what was right.

But when a barrage of gunfire and screams could be heard, Shadow worried. If he was right, then Sonic would be a monster.

"We need backup! He's attacking our men!"

Shadow skated around the house, looking around the corner to see what was happening. Sonic was there- or what was left of him- bent over one of the soldiers, who was on the ground, bleeding from the chest. "All I wanted," he heard the monster growl, "was to save Shadow. I could've gotten what I needed and left. But now, you've made me angry." The werehog turned, and Shadow could see its eyes, entirely black in color, glaring at the man with the megaphone. "You see, Shadow is a freak like me, too! And I was going to save him. But since I'm so bad at saving people," he said, as Shadow could swear his fur grew darker, "maybe I should start hurting them instead."

The werehog leapt, but Shadow was too quick. He Chaos Controlled between the beast and his target, getting a large scratch on his arm in the process. "Sonic, stop this!" Shadow yelled through the burst of pain, drawing his gun. Sonic looked at the black hedgehog with a twinge of pain. _This isn't him,_ he told himself. _Sonic saves people. He helps them._ The dark eyes narrowed, and the frown deepened. _He needs to be brought back to why he does what he does._ The werehog was assuming a battle ready stance. _He needs..._

Shadow dropped his gun and put his arms out to the sides, staring down the dark werehog who was fast approaching. _I hope this works,_ Shadow thought to himself as he closed his eyes, defenses completely down. He felt the beast up next to him, raising his arm to hit- and he wrapped his arms around him. Clinging to his fur, the black hedgehog held on tight to the werehog.

"You're better than this," he said, "you know you are."

Opening his eyes, he looked into those of the werehog. The black seemed to drain from the eyes, and once again, Shadow saw the eyes of the one he loved. "Shadow? What did I-"

"Shadow the Hedgehog!" The man with the megaphone was standing up, still slightly shaken after the attack, "Sonic is now accused of kidnapping, murder, and obstruction of justice. If you don't move now, you will also be arrested for obstruction of justice."

Shadow looked into the sky, now pitch black from the light pollution. He could leave now, find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds on his own, and somehow find Sonic later. He could help Tails find a scientific explanation for why Sonic turned into... this. It probably was the smarter thing to do, and a week ago, it was what he would've done.

But Sonic's reaction to Shadow going away stirred something in the black hedgehog's heart. He couldn't leave him, not now.

Shadow wouldn't run anymore.

"Take me with him!" the Ultimate Lifeform yelled to the men with guns.

"And why should we do that?"

"You see it, don't you? Blind fools. You can't control him at night; he's too wild, to aggressive for you. If you hadn't noticed, I'm the only thing that keeps him calm."

Sonic looked down at Shadow, worry in his eyes. "Don't do this. I need to go away. Even if I didn't kill Crudele, I'm still responsible for his death. I need to be put away so I don't hurt anyone. But you can have a normal life."

Shadow burrowed his face into the werehog's fur. "I don't want a life without you." He turned his head. "I can work for GUN again if you'd like. I'll do whatever you want during the day. You can make me go on missions, experiment on me, do what you like. But at night, I need to be with him."

"Stop it, Shadow. You can't-"

"It's my own choice."

The men with guns approached the two of them, both hybrids the world had never been meant to know, and lead them to a helicopter. On the walk there and during the flight, both of their faces grew more stern, their grip on each other's hands getting stronger, anticipating what they were about to face together.


	23. One Week Left

**CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: One Week Left**

**((For those of you that just check on Wednesdays, there was an unscheduled update on Saturday. It explains the PenName change happening later today. The new PenName is Supersonic Pizza Delivery. Thanks for understanding.))**

The commander was looking over the results of the tests GUN had been running on Shadow and Sonic. It had been nearly two weeks since Sonic had been taken into custody and Shadow, for some reason, agreed to work with them in exchange for nights with the beast. Though the commander hated Shadow- with a fiery passion- he had to admit that having the two of them here helped their research department significantly. Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform, and Sonic, who managed to grow his strength tenfold when the sun went down, were a beautiful anomoly. If GUN could figure out how either of these creatures could even exist, they could weaponize it. And if there was one thing the commander liked, it was weapons.

A soldier came into the room and saluted. "Sir, the protesters outside the base are growing unruly."

The commander sighed, putting his papers down. Some people were questioning why two of Earth's heroes were away on such little evidence. They didn't know what happened to Sonic, but several legal experts were questioning how GUN could have the legal authority to detain them in the first place, being mostly a military group.

"It's worthless, Lieutenant," the commander replied, "In their eyes, that scum will always be some kind of hero."

"The men are starting to wonder if the protesters have a point, sir. We are almost at the time limit we can detain them without actually taking them to court."

The commander slammed his fist on the desk. "They will stay here for as long as I want them here, you understand?" he yelled. The lieutenant nodded his head and the commander smiled. "Good. We have a great opportunity here. We could find a way to make our soldiers faster, stronger, more agile. I will not give that up for the whims of some hippie freaks."

The lieutenant put his saluting hand down. "Yes sir," he replied, leaving. The commander looked at the papers one more time, grinning. "Besides," the man said to himself, "As long as I can do whatever I want to Shadow as long as Sonic stays here, then the freak will never get to leave."

* * *

The black hedgehog walked through the doors of the prison where he currently was taking residence, greeted by a young soldier. "Project Shadow, you are late. The prisoner is attempting to break the bonds of his cell."

_After all this time, I'm still just a project to them, huh._ "And hello to you too." Shadow replied, a sarcastic smirk across his face. "Don't worry. I have it under control."

The soldier glared at him. "Just because you're some kind of Ultimate Lifeform doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want."

_If I could, I wouldn't be here, would I?_ Shadow scowled. "Need I remind you that I'm not legally required to be here. I am well within my rights to stop working with you altogether, should I so choose. And that hedgehog has saved the world more times than you could count; the least you can do is call him by his name."

The soldier balked, then walked along the corridor, calling up the elevator that lead to Sonic's holding cell. "Just... hurry." The black hedgehog nodded in response as he walked in the elevator, doors closing behind him. As he descended, he could hear growling and yelling growing louder. _Giving them hell, aren't you Sonic?_ he thought, a smile crossing his face. _I hope you're having fun in there. __If only you could fight them during the_ _day_... The doors opened, revealing the cell; much like the one from before, this one was surrounded by water, only an extendable bridge to connect the only way up to the cell. Shadow pushed the combination, and the bridge came out from underneath his feet, a small pocket of air forming in the water, just enough for one of two people to cross. The black hedgehog stepped on the cold metal, walking across as the yelling got louder and louder. Sonic was thrashing around in his cell, scratching up the walls. "Agent Shadow, we need you to calm the prisoner immediately!"

Shadow grunted. "He's in a cage, posing no threat to you. And I'm still technically a civilian, not an agent."

The guard was not amused. "I don't care, just get in there."

Five soldiers trained their guns on the door to the cell (Shadow wasn't concerned; they were only armed with tranquilizer darts) and when it opened, the large werehog leapt out, claws bared. Shadow sighed; Sonic only seemed to grow more feral each night when he wasn't around. Granted, he wasn't left alone often; Shadow made sure of that. But a small twinge of worry still passed whenever the black hedgehog had to see Sonic like this, losing his senses to the foreign darkness inside. This wasn't the carefree hedgehog he knew and loved. At least, not until Shadow came close.

Like he had for the past several weeks, Shadow approached the raging werehog with outstretched arms and gripped him tight. "Sonic. I'm here. You need to calm down." The deep black eyes shifted back to their normal white and green, and Sonic began to pant. Casting his eyes downward at Shadow, he asked with a pitiful tone, "I did it again, didn't I?"

Shadow closed his eyes. He never lied to Sonic if he could help it, but times like this made it painful. "Yes. You seem to be getting worse."

The werehog glanced over Shadow's soldier, looking at the soldiers. "I guess we need to go back in the cell now."

"That is correct."

"I wish we didn't."

"I know. But they already drew back the bridge."

Sonic shivered. Shadow knew that he hated water. He had jumped in all that time ago for Shadow's sake (a feat Shadow had not forgotten), but under any other circumstances, Sonic wouldn't touch the stuff. Shadow always intended to ask where his fear came from, but it had yet to come up in conversation. The fact was, the information was well known enough that this prison, surrounded by water, was specifically designed with him in mind.

The two walked back in the cell, its door closing behind them. The whirr of multiple locks closing them in was followed by the silence of the room, only the sounds of their breathing making any noise. "I hate being in here, Shadow. I know I have to, but I hate it."

Shadow looked on the ground and saw scuff marks in a circle. Sonic typically slept during the day in here, bored by being alone, but occasionally he felt the need to run in the tiny space. "I know you do. You shouldn't have to be here."

"But if I'm not in here, who knows what I'll do to the people out there." Sonic sat down and looked at his now spiked shoes. "I feel myself getting worse, Shadow. Even with you around, it's like there's this... thing is always inside of me, fighting to get out."

Shadow held the werehog's hand. "You are still Sonic the Hedgehog. You're still you. And if whatever the Doctor put inside of you is making you doubt that, then I'll kill him."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Shadow, I-"

The black hedgehog interrupted with a shy kiss. Light pink creeped up werehog's muzzle and Shadow had to laugh; it still seemed strange to see the werehog blush. "Don't think about it. I'll find a way to get Dark Gaia out of your system."

Sonic put his head on Shadow's shoulder. "You've been talking to Tails, right?"

The black hedgehog lifted his hand and started carefully stroking Sonic's fur. "Yes. There aren't any leads on the remaining Chaos Emeralds yet, and since he didn't get a new blood sample from you, he doesn't know how much time you have until..." He paused a moment, not sure how to end the sentence ultimately stating, "Well, let's not think about that."

Sonic closed his eyes. "I just want to help. I want to go out there and do something, and not be stuck in here."

"I know you do. But for now, you just have me."

Sonic smiled. "And right now, that's all I really need." He lifted his head off the shoulder, and pecked Shadow on the cheek. It was Shadow's turn to blush, against his will. _I wish I could be with him under normal circumstances,_ Shadow thought, _but for now, I'll take what I can get._

* * *

Knuckles was resting on the altar of the Master Emerald, trying to ignore the throbbing of his arms. They were almost entirely healed by this point, and the slashes on his face and shoulder had healed almost entirely, only small scars revealing anything had ever happened. He didn't even have to wear casts anymore, though he was warned not to be aggressive, lest the bones break again. He wasn't sure how well he could protect the Emerald like this, but he would. He was the sworn Guardian, and he would fulfill the path fate left for him. There hadn't been any attacks yet, so he wasn't worry. In fact, Angel Island was normally quite quiet, almost peaceful.

Today, however, was not. After hearing the swishing of two tails in the wind, Knuckles opened his eyes to see Tails's familiar face. "What's up, kid? Something tells me you didn't come up here for a visit."

The fox shrugged sheepishly. "No. I was wondering if you'd do me a favor. You don't need your casts anymore, right?"

The echidna sighed. "No, I don't."

"Would you help me boost the signal for this device? It should help us find the next Chaos Emerald."

Knuckles raised an eye ridge. "And why should I blatantly abuse my position for one of your gadgets?"

"It's for Sonic. We think that if we get all the Chaos Emeralds, we can cure him."

"He's been a werehog for almost a month now. Why the big rush?"

"That's the thing. Crudele, before he died, said that Eggman would deploy the end of his plan on the full moon, one week from now." The fox looked sad. "I don't know if it'll make Sonic more aggressive or if he'll die, but I don't want anything to do with either. You have to help!"

Knuckles paused, putting his hand on his shoulder, feeling the scar. _It's true, _he thought to himself._ Sonic is turning into something terrible, and nobody's been able to cure this before. Not to mention this is a complete breach of protocol. I might be interfering with something bigger than myself._

_But if anyone could cure him, it would be Tails, and I can't just let Sonic turn into a monster._ "Alright," he agreed reluctantly, "just tell me what I need to do."

"Just channel the Chaos energy into the device."

The echidna looked at the gadget, with five Chaos Emeralds stuck to it. He didn't even pretend to understand how it worked; he wasn't one for mechanics and modern science. But he knew how to do his part, making a pathway for the energy of the Master Emerald to power the device. It beeped, which made a smile come across the fox's face. "It's working! Let me see..." He looked closely at the screen and his smile faded away. "I don't believe this," the kid said, "how did the Emeralds get up there?"

Knuckles stopped channeling the energy. "What's happening?"

"Thank you, Knuckles!" the fox kid said, leaving in a hurry, "I'll explain it all later, but right now I have to get to Sonic and Shadow."

"They're on New Prison Island, guarded by GUN and under high security. How are you supposed to get them out."

Tails looked back. "Security, I can take care of. And as for actually getting in," he said, a smile coming back on his face, "I'll get the one person who could get past GUN's security."


	24. Need

**CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: Need**

**((Hey everybody! The poll winner was a threeway tie: the sequel to this story, Blaze's origin story, and (shockingly enough) the vampire AU. All of these stories will get done, though I'm not sure in what order. **

**I'm starting preparations on the sequel (though I'm not actually writing it yet) but there's one thing I want to know first. Would you, as a reader, like more werehog in the sequel or just Sonic and Shadow being their wonderful selves? There is a poll on my page, or you could say in reviews. What makes you happy, my dear reader?**

**Anyway. Sonic and Shadow in a cell. Let's get to it!))**

Sonic and Shadow had been in the cell for almost the full night now. The cell didn't leave much room for them to move around, not to mention they were constantly under security surveillance, so they mostly spent their nights in the cell just talking. They talked about how their friends outside the walls were faring. They talked about all the different places they had gone and where they would visit again after they got out. They talked about how bad GUN's food was. For a time, Shadow and Sonic could almost fool themselves into thinking their time there was peaceful, that everything would be alright.

But Shadow knew that the full moon was almost here. Professor Crudele, so long ago, had warned that Eggman would unleash his plan, whatever it was, on that night. What Eggman could possibly want with Sonic as a monstrous beast was beyond him, but then again, the Doctor hardly ever put much thought into how to harness power; he just let it loose and hoped for the best. Shadow refused to underestimate him, though; other things he had done recently, like developing the chips he put in people's heads, told him that Eggman was up to something even more diabolical than usual. He worried frequently that while he was in here, the Doctor was creating mayhem in the outside world.

The only reason he stayed was due to Sonic, who was having trouble keeping control over the artificial Dark Gaia. Shadow's presence normally kept it in check, but even with the black hedgehog around, the difference between night and day was growing more stark. His fur grew darker, his demeanor more serious and angry. Sonic tried to hide it, but Shadow knew that it worried him deep down. He didn't want to give in to this foreign entity inside of him, but Shadow knew it was getting harder and harder.

The sun would rise soon; the two were laying down on the hard metal floor, staring at the top of the watery cage. "Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah?"

"You know that I care about you, right?"

Sonic sat up, his massive form casting a shadow on the black hedgehog. "Of course," he said, "you kissed me first, remember?"

"Yes," he said, "but I've been meaning to ask something of you."

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "What is it, Shadow?"

"We've been talking and touching and such in here. I keep thinking we've grown closer..." he said, starting to doubt his resolve.

"But?"

"But a small part of me is worried that once we're out of here, you'll just run off again."

Sonic laughed, and Shadow glared at him. "Is this funny to you?"

The werehog was smiling, a rare sight these days. "No. I was worried about the same with you, is all."

The black hedgehog looked at him with puzzled eyes. "Really? Why would you think such a thing?"

The smile faded. "Well, you were the one that ran off to go to Angel Island, remember? And you always seemed so independent, like you didn't need anyone. Why stick around someone like me?" The werehog's eyes were growing slightly darker. Shadow tried his hardest to keep Sonic happy because the artificial Dark Gaia tended to seep through in the moments he got sad or angry. Shadow reached his hands out to the werehog's giant paw, gripping it between his fingers and bringing it close to his chest, and the eyes went back to their brilliant green color.

"Of course I need you," the black hedgehog said, trying to sound happy. "If anything, you're too good for someone like me."

Sonic frowned. "What do you mean by that? Shadow, I'm the monster-"

"No, you're not. You're a victim of circumstance. I'm the one who's killed before, who almost helped the Black Arms take over Earth."

"But you didn't remember anything-"

"And I still tried to help them. Sonic, you've been able to stand up against Dark Gaia so long because you genuinely have a good soul. You go out of your way to help others, you can be satisfied just by the feeling of the wind passing you by..." Shadow let go of the paw, letting it fall on his chest. "I don't have that kind of heart. When left to my own devices, I almost became a murderer. I'm the real monster."

* * *

The commander was in the science labs, giving the researchers objectives for that day of tests, when a siren began to sound.

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

He was not pleased. Shadow was just about to leave the cell for the day; he did not need this distraction. "Security!" he barked, "Give me a status report. Now!"

His cry was met only with loud thudding sounds. Vein pulsing in his neck, he went to the hallway to see two guards, apparently hit with a large blunt object, passed out on the floor. A third ran up to him, panting heavily. "Sir!" the guard yelled, "the intruder is making their way to the beast's cell. They has a keycard in their hand!"

"What?!" The commander yelled, his face turning red. "Stop her! Stop them right now. They cannot reach the prisoners under any cost!"

One of the scientists had pushed buttons on the equipment, changing the monitors to footage from the security cameras. At first, all seemed normal; nothing disturbed the vision. Then, a fleeting shadow crossed, followed by an explosion. The cameras, one by one, only returned static. "Damn," the commander grimaced, "whoever this person is, they know our security system like the back of their hand." He furrowed his brow. An inside job, perhaps? There were certainly those in GUN that sympathized with the protesters. But who would be crazy enough to risk their job for it?

"Sir, we have a visual of the explosives."

"Put it on the monitor," the commander yelled. On the command, the device was revealed. It was a signature spherical bomb with a heart over top of it. "It is certainly a unique device. Does it match with anyone in our system?"

"No need, sir. I know whose it it." One of the guards was regaining consciousness, trying to lift himself up. "She's a special agent, normally deployed on stealth and reconnaissance missions."

The commander's face grew stern with determination. "Which agent is it? Who would betray their own government for the sake of an experiment and a dangerous mutant?"

* * *

Sonic could tell that Shadow was putting a lot of effort into staying calm for his sake. His paw on his chest could feel the long slow breaths, which contrasted with the fast heart rate. Shadow believed what he was saying, and Sonic would have none of it. "What do you mean 'that kind of heart? Shadow, you helped me even when it meant you would be stuck here. You fought against the Black Arms and you've saved the planet multiple times. You're just as much of a hero as I am." The werehog started rubbing the other's stomach, eliciting a surprised look from Shadow. "And I'm not as pure and strong as you think I am. Do you ever think about all the people I couldn't save? All the times Eggman slipped by because I had been too cocky? I do what I do because it's right, but I hate always pretending that everything is okay when it's not." He streched his arm out and brought back Shadow's hand. "Nobody understands that but you, Shadow. I need you and you need me. So, to answer your question; no, I won't leave you."

Suddenly, his ears, with their heightened hearing, could hear the sound of thuds echoing through the water. Sonic turned to look at the source, but aside from some small ripples in the water, nothing was out of the ordinary. A glance to the side revealed Shadow looking in the same direction. _I guess the Ultimate Lifeform has Ultimate hearing as well_, Sonic thought with a smirk. "What do you think they're doing up there?"

Shadow's fake grin gave way to his trademark scowl. "Probably testing another weapon," he grumbled, not too pleased.

Sonic couldn't hide the worry on his face as the thumping grew louder. "Shadow- what exactly do they make you do? I mean, during the day?"

The thudding was getting closer to them now. "They have me battle test their newest technology. They're trying to find something that can defeat me." The black hedgehog smirked. "The scientists have a pool going on whose robot will finally beat me."

Shadow turned to the werehog, and his smirk immediately went away when he saw him looking at the floor, a sad expression on his face. Shadow couldn't help but think just how different Sonic was from before. "Are they deadly, Shadow?" the werehog asked, his shoulders falling. The thudding was close to the cell now, but the two chose to ignore it.

"No. It takes a lot more than GUN can come up with to kill me."

An angry grint came across his eyes. "But they are trying to kill you. Or hurt you."

Shadow sat up quickly. "Sort of, but-"

"You've helped them through so much and they treat you like some sort of lab rat." His fur was getting darker.

"Sonic, calm down! You can't afford to get angry right now."

"But they're trying to hurt you! How can they- ACH!" Sonic's body started to shake as it turned back, shrinking down into his hedgehog form. His expression went from angry to sad, as he regained control over himself, hands shaking as they balled into fists. "I just... I don't want them to hurt the person I lo-"

Sonic was interrupted by the sound of the bridge extending across, the metal extending to meet the cell. But instead of a soldier or guard, it was a familiar face, a silhouette of wings poking out of the stealth uniform she used so little. "Hi boys," Rouge said. "Long time no see."


	25. Setting the Stage

**CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: Setting the Stage**

**((G****et ready for a long chapter. My longest yet, actually, and yet I like this length the best. Makes me want to write longer chapters more often, though I'm not sure how much you, dear reader, would be interested in such things. Anyway, onward ho!))**

Rouge the Bat stood in front of the cell, punching in the key code with a mischievous smile across her face. The door creaked open with a metallic whir, revealing the dumbfounded Sonic and Shadow, staring at the intruder. _What is she doing here?_ Sonic wondered to himself. _This is crazy. I'm here of my own free will, so why risk so much to get me out? _Shadow obviously shared the sentiment as he glared at the bad, a nearly undetectable hint of surprise on his face. "Why are you here, Rouge?" he said, voice flat.

The bat laughed. "Well, you haven't called in three weeks," she said, dripping sarcasm in her voice and waving her finger, "and you know how I worry." The bat winked at the black hedgehog, who returned it with a scowl. The two of them were good friends, but that didn't mean she didn't get on his nerves. _It's almost funny when he's annoyed,_ Sonic thought to himself. _The way he scrunches his face up like that..._.

"This isn't a joke, Rouge. You could lose your job over this."

Her laughing face calmed into a still smiling, yet somber expression. "You think I don't know that?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Shadow, you're my friend, and I'll always stick by you. After hearing about what they do to you, during the day, I was going to resign anyway." Shadow grumbled something under his breath and Sonic began to worry. _What are they doing up there that's so bad? If it was just battle testing, Rouge wouldn't be so upset about it._ "But I held out when the fox kid called and said he might have a lead on the last emeralds. Said they might need someone on the inside to get you two out. Plus I know how strong you can be."

_So this is an escape attempt?_ Sonic looked at Shadow, who seemed just as confused as he was. "And now that you're here, I suppose you've found them?" Shadow said. Sonic sighed. Now wasn't the best time to ask obvious questions, he supposed, but would it kill her to bring him up to speed?

The bat nodded as she reached into a small bag on her back, but instead of pulling out the new Emeralds, she brought out a slightly modified version of the old communicator with all the Emeralds they had already found inside. Sonic looked at the device carefully to see it had a few more buttons that likely only Tails knew how to use. _Leave it to him to take something perfectly good and make it over complicated. _He smiled at the thought of Tails. _But he must be doing well if he's still building. I haven't heard from him in so long._

"If you look closely at the screen," Rouge said, pushing a few of the buttons, "you'll see the new location of the last two emeralds. It's a bit surprising, actually."

She handed off the device to Shadow, who narrowed his eyes. "Rouge, it's broken. It's going out too far."

"Just keep looking, sweetie."

A few seconds later, the narrowed eyes snapped wide open. "But... that's..."

"Why we needed to bring all the Emeralds now. We don't know how much energy it takes to get you two up there."

Now Sonic was confused. "As in Chaos Control? I'm not sure if Tails told you, Rouge, but with my body like this, Chaos Control doesn't exactly agree with me."

Rouge sighed. "I know that, blue boy, but it's the only way to get you two up there on such short notice. Full moon's tonight, you know. This is the last shot you've got."

"Up there? What do you-" Shadow dropped the communicator, and a loud clattering sound filled the cell. Sonic looked over at the screen, and now understood what was wrong.

"It's the ARK, Sonic. It's the damn ARK."

Sonic didn't know what to say. The last time the two of them were on the ARK, Shadow didn't know who he was. In fact, he tried to kill him more than once. But that wasn't what was upsetting Shadow so much, not really. Sonic knew the truth; that the entire station was filled with painful memories. Memories of a young blonde girl who died much too young...

"I know this is hard, Shadow," Rouge said, "but one of the two Emeralds is in the base. We need to get it to help Sonic, remember?"

Shadow looked up at Rouge. "I understand," he said, his voice growing deeper than usual, "but what about the other one?"

Rouge sighed. "That's the bad news. The Doctor has it."

* * *

Nobody had known about Doctor Eggman's activities for three weeks. Most people took is as a blessing; no Eggman meant no robot attacks. But still, some of the people below were on edge. A few started spreading conspiracy theories when an unidentified rocket went to space a while ago. Even more popped up when some nutjobs with a telescope saw a strange shadow crossing the sky, swearing it was getting bigger. Again, most brushed this off as conspiracy theorists making grand conclusions with no evidence. Little did they know that the "crazy people" were right.

Eggman smiled at his latest creation; a fully controllable base with all the stops, in space and yet, most of the time, concealed by the shade of the Space Colony ARK. Not even the current residents of the ARK knew he was there; his chips may not have worked perfectly, but he learned how to at least alter perception, making the otherwise gigantic metal contraption appear to them as more empty space. It was temporary; Eggman had always wanted to take over Earth, not sit seemingly endless darkness. Yet three weeks without interruption from meddling hedgehogs and friends let him do all the experiments he had always wanted to do. And his latest creation was his most devious yet.

"You know," he spoke to Orbot and Cubot, who even followed him in space, "I'm quite glad we had gone to the ARK personally to treat the inhabitants instead of sending robots."

Orbot looked at the Doctor with as much of a sarcastic smile as his metal face could manage. "Is that because almost all your creations are incapable of achieving even the simplest tasks, Doctor?"

Eggman shot the robot an angry look. "You are one of my creations. Talk to me like that again and I'll render you permanently 'incapable' of anything." He sighed, and the smile came back on his face. "No, I'm glad because I got my hands on two very important things. A copy of my grandfather's work on genetic engineering, and," he said, looking at the large tubes suspended in his lab, "more importantly, Shadow's biggest weakness. Victory is all but assured."

Orbot squinted. "Are you sure this is the key to holding off Shadow for long enough to inject Sonic? It seems like nothing more than a patch of cells."

The Doctor laughed at the remark. "It's an embryo specially designed to grow and be capable of its purpose in one day's time. Trust me. By the end of this, Sonic will be an unstoppable force in creating my empire, and Shadow will meet his end."

* * *

Shadow's face scowled deeply as he pondered the next step. "If Eggman has one Emerald, why wouldn't he go after the rest of them?"

Rouge could only shrug. "Don't ask me what that loon is thinking. All I know is that you need to get up there and get the sixth emerald if you even want a shot of getting the last one from Eggman. And time is running out."

Shadow turned to Sonic, concern showing in his eyes. It was true; this space station was filled with pain for him. He only went there on very rare occasions to pay his respects, and the thought of taking Sonic up to the place of his worst memories was nigh unbearable.

And yet...

He knew what was at stake. He knew that he already lost Maria, in that place in fact, and that he was dangerously close to losing someone else he loved. This was a pain he'd have to endure.

He'd be damned if he lost Sonic too.

Shadow turned to Sonic, a determined gleam in his eye. "You know that by doing this, we're just going from one GUN base to another. There'll be armed men coming after us."

"I know."

"And we're also going to be wanted criminals for escaping this prison, which may mean that keeping us alive wouldn't be their priority.."

"Yeah, I get it."

"And you should know this Chaos Control is going to hurt, probably more than it ever has before because of the distance."

Sonic let out a forced laugh. "What kind of hero would I be if I was scared of a little pain?" Still, though he tried to hide it, some worry crossed his face. Shadow probably wouldn't have even noticed it a month ago; being around Sonic so often gave him an unusual perspective on how the blue hero really felt. "Seriously, though, why are we still here? We gotta speed up if we're going to stop Eggman in time, not to mention get me back to normal."

Shadow sighed. Sonic was just as arrogant as ever. "Then we shouldn't waste time. Give me the communicator, Rouge. We're leaving"

The bat handed it to him. "Good luck, you two. Don't do anything too crazy without me."

Shadow nodded. "I don't intend to. And for the record," he said, grabbing the red Chaos Emerald out of the device, "I only need one Emerald to get up there."

The two disappeared in a flash, just in time for soldiers to draw the bridge across and aim their weapons at Rouge. "Rouge the Bat, you are under arrest for assisting the escape of the highest security prisoner and most valuable test subject."

Rouge put her hands up and smiled. "Do your worst to me, boys. My job is done."

* * *

Blinding pain shook through Sonic's being once again as he and Shadow Chaos Controlled their furthest distance yet, up into the GUN controlled space station. The two of them landed on the cold metal floor, and Sonic could see Shadow's fur stand on end from hatred of the place. "Shadow, are you oka-" Yet more pain coursed through the blue hedgehog's body. "What? How is this happen- AAAHHHHHH!" He felt his body writhe and twist as it reshaped itself into the beast's form, claws forcing their way through his gloved hands, muzzle lengthening, and bones rearranging to allow for the larger size. After it was over, it was all Sonic could do to keep from passing out from all the pain at once. "This doesn't make any sense, Shadow," he said, trying to sound confident but letting it out as a pained whimper.

The black hedgehog looked over the werehog, and Sonic was thankful that he was still around to keep him in check. "It's probably due to the position of the space station at the moment. Time works differently here."

"Well that's just lovely," Sonic muttered. His whole body was throbbing and he struggled to stay on his feet. "Now let's go get that Emerald before we-"

Sonic was interrupted by loud footsteps and clicking of guns. The two tore their glances from each other to see a group of three soldiers, aiming rifles at them. One of the soldiers began to yell, "We don't know how you two managed to breach this facility, but it was a mistake for you to come here."

Shadow looked up. "We don't want trouble. We just-"

A gunshot sounded through the room. Sonic didn't understand what happened at first, but a glance at the black hedgehog filled him with horror. "Blood..." he muttered, putting his clawed hand on Shadow's abdomen. This was bad. This was very very bad.

"What are you doing, idiot?" Shadow coughed, and though Sonic tried to get him to stop talking, Shadow kept speaking. "The only thing that can cure you is in here. You can take these guys easily, and you have no time. Just leave."

Sonic pressed down, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. "I don't want to leave," he told him. "I won't do that ever again!" The giant clawed hand shook, holding his partner like a fragile piece of pottery. "Shadow, don't die on me now. Not when we've gotten so close..."

Shadow put a finger to the werehog's lips, trying and failing to ease his trembling. His eyelids began to close. "You need to keep going... you need to save yourself...you need to..."

The black werehog's eyes clouded over and closed. "No. No, Shadow..." The werehog shed bitter tears as he felt the chest's rising and falling getting slower and slower. He looked at the soldiers. "Why did you-" He choked on his words when he felt the chest cease to rise and fall. _Shadow can't be dead._ His own pain stricken body tensed up, overcome with fatigue. _He can't go. He-_

Sonic dropped his last efforts at staying conscious, collapsing on the floor as his fur grew darker.

**((This story just keeps bopping all over the place, doesn't it? Honestly, I just kept getting ideas and throwing them in, though a showdown in space was always going to happen. In the meantime, I murdered a main character and made the other unconscious go to the most hostile environment short of actually in front of Eggman, so you all probably hate me by this point. Stick around for the next few chapters. I swear they'll make up for it.))**


	26. The Beast and the Memory

**CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: The Beast and the Memory**

**((I'm still alive? After a main character death? How is this possible? You guys didn't murder me!**

**In other news, changing my PenName didn't help apparently, because the entirety of my school's writing club found my fanfic. I guess I don't mind for the most part, it's really embarrassing having a guy with a My Little Epona t-shirt laugh at you because you write Sonic fanfic. Then I pointed out he was wearing said t-shirt and he got quiet very fast. So yay for me.****))**

Sonic was back in the caverns of white, in the recesses of his own mind. "Hello again," a deep voice spoke at him, interrupting his thought. The blue hedgehog- indeed, he was still blue in here- looked up to see his beastly counterpart, the werehog. The soulless black eyes and dark fur made his look intimidating, but unlike the last time the two were alone like this, Sonic wasn't scared of him. In fact, he was glad for the company.

"So this was how it was meant to end, huh?" the blue hedgehog said, sounding tired. "I finally find someone who can understand me, and we get so close to having a relatively normal life... and it's ripped from my hands?" Sonic let out a light chuckle. "Life was never fair to me, was it?"

The werehog looked at Sonic, puzzled. "There's nothing normal about us."

The sad smile was still plastered on Sonic's face. "I know what you mean."

The two paused a moment as the hedgehog bent over, looking at the ground. Or, at least, where the ground was supposed to be- here, everything faded into everything else. "I know what you want," Sonic mumbled, "and you know what? You can have it."

The werehog got excited, jumping to his feet. "I can come out?"

Tears dropped from Sonic's eyes against his will. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not stupid. You've been getting stronger for weeks, and I can't hold you back forever. And now that Shadow's de-" he couldn't finish the sentence, choking on the word, "well, you know what he is, my last shot at getting you out is gone." The hedgehog shook his head. "Besides, we're in space. Not much you can do in space."

"Except for killing those people from GUN," the werehog replied, sharp teeth shining from his mouth, "but something tells me that doesn't bother you much."

Sonic gave a halfhearted laugh as he shook his head. "Nope. Some hero I am, I guess." The hedgehog's own fur began to grow darker itself, but he was beyond the point of caring. "He did nothing but help them, and they killed him in cold blood. Maybe they deserve to die."

The werehog whimpered. "Pity. Your struggling makes it more fun to come out."

The hedgehog smirked. "Too bad."

The werehog sighed. "I guess I can't complain. After all, this time, I'm going out for good."

The hedgehog was fully black by this point. "Now get out there before I change my mind."

On the space station, pitch black eyes snapped open. The werehog let out a maniacal laugh, devolving into a howl of excitement. He saw the soldiers, practically quaking at the sight of this beast, and he bore his claws, twitching in anticipation. "This is going to be fun!"

* * *

Shadow found himself in an a blinding white space, the only structures he could see being white walls that nearly entirely closed him in. The last thing he could remember was the red emerald, and Chaos Controlling, and the werehog, and blood, so much blood...

_Did I just die? __Is this some kind of afterlife? _

Shadow glanced around, and when he squinted, he could see the outlines of buildings._ This doesn't make any sense. Why would I wind up here, of all places? It's too empty for heaven and too peaceful for the other place._

Off in the distance, he could have sworn that he saw small flashes of color. _Wait a minute. This is..._

A blue blue wound through the empty areas, filling them with vitality and life. The black hedgehog tried to yell out Sonic's name, but for some reason found himself unable to move his own body. Instead, the body crossed its arms and grumbled. _I'm trapped in the memory of Sonic's birthday, _Shadow realized. _But why?_

The blue hedgehog stopped in front of Shadow, wagging a finger at the black hedgehog. "Long time no see, buddy. Can I just use that Chaos Emerald you're holding? I'm on a bit of a tight schedule."

Shadow's heartbeat sped up as he heard himself talk, the words defying his will. "You're finally here, Sonic," he felt himself saying, the voice filled with anticipation. Then, as if he had caught himself getting too excited, his tone shifted to a much more serious one, and he guarded the Chaos Emerald from behind him. "I don't know where we are, nor do I care. This," he said, gesturing to the empty white arena, barely visible behind him, "is where I finish you, Sonic."

The Shadow looking upon these events remembered clearly now; what he was intending, what he was doing... and how it was going to end. _Make it stop, he begged inside his head, Sonic and I settled this. Just make it stop!_ But the pleas were to no avail, as the events kept moving.

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "You're not going down without a fight, are you?"

Shadow shook his head in reply, and as he turned to face the arena, he could see the edges already filling in with the black of the city night. "If you insist, Shadow," Sonic shrugged, "but I can't stay."

The two descended into the arena on rails, and the Shadow watching himself move grew in sadness. _This is when I tried to fight him, to get him to stop._ He saw himself gathering orbs of Chaos Energy and throwing spikes back at the blue hedgehog he loved so much, all while said blue hedgehog gathered them himself. _I thought that if I could knock him down, I could finally talk to him. _His body got hit with rocks, and he felt himself slowing down. _But in the end, all that happened was... _Sonic ran up behind the black hedgehog, and he started falling, until with one swift hit he launched in the air. His weary body slammed to the floor, and his eyes began to blur from exhaustion. He tried to lift his head, to make one final plea for Sonic to stop, but the hero was already gone, Chaos Emerald in hand. _Damn it,_ Shadow thought. _Damn it all..._

It was then that everything froze and faded away around him. "Now, my boy," a voice called from behind him, "you let him get away once. Are you going to let him do it again?"

Shadow realized that all the pain and exhaustion was gone, faded back into his memories along with everything else, and stood up. That voice, it's...

"It's been a while, Shadow. About fifty years, in fact."

Shadow couldn't believe his eyes when he turned around. It was an older gentleman in a labcoat, a weary smile on his face. Those thick goggles and thicker mustache were echoes of a time Shadow remembered fondly. "Professor Gerald! What's going on? How are you here?"

The man adjusted his goggles, like he used to do all those years ago. "Scientifically speaking, you could say that your mind is going through past memories that may have been relevant to the moment of your demise, trying to find a way to fix your current situation by mimicking the past. The more poetic explanation, however," he reasoned as he approached the black hedgehog, "would be that I'm here to give advice from beyond the grave."

Shadow looked down at his hands. "So I did die back there."

A rancorous laugh escaped Professor Gerald's lips. "Of course not, Shadow. Did you expect the Ultimate Lifeform to go down because of one bullet? No, you'll be just fine, once the accelerated healing kicks in. But that doesn't change the fact that I need to talk to you, and now may be the only time I can reach you."

Shadow looked up at his creator. This man was responsible for his existence, for the Black Arms DNA in his system, and for everything that happened. Yet, somehow, he wasn't angry at him. The man just looked so tired. "What do you want to tell me?"

"Consider them messages. Three of them, to be exact." The Professor was directly in front of Shadow, now, and looked into his eyes with a strength the black hedgehog had never seen before. "The first is from myself, and that is to be very careful around Dark Gaia."

Shadow shook slightly. "Why?"

"Both Light and Dark Gaia are the spirits of the Earth. They are finely tuned with all of its creatures, humans, animals, and anthropomorphs alike. Now, Shadow, you're clever. Can you tell me the problem it would have with you?"

After a few moments of thought, Shadow had a dark epiphany. "I wasn't part of the earth. I was an experiment."

The professor nodded. "That is right. You have enough hedgehog DNA that Dark Gaia could seep in, but the Black Arms DNA would be completely foreign to it. I can't guarantee your safety, should it come into contact with you. It may make you sick, drive you insane, or, most likely, kill you. Be vigilant against it."

Shadow closed his eyes. "I understand. What is the next message?"

"It is from someone I met rather recently. A man by the name of Crudele."

Shadow's eyes widened in recognition. The man who died all that time ago...

The professor continued. "He wants you to know that my nephew has been planning something terrible, something you may not be able to stand against. He says to use the Chaos Emeralds to cure Sonic and leave immediately, regardless of what the Doctor puts in front of you."

A scoff came from his lips. "I don't see what he could do to me that would make me stop, but I'll take his word for it."

Professor Gerald began to fade, and he looked through his see through hand. "Ah, it seems that your body is already trying to regain conciousness. Quite quickly, actually. I suspected no less of my handiwork."

"Wait!" Shadow yelled, putting his arm out, "What's the last message?"

"It's from Maria."

The Professor was almost completely gone. "What is it?" Shadow yelled.

He expected several things to come from Maria. Waxing poetic about love or the beauty of life. A cheerful smile, an anecdote. But as the Professor faded completely, only five words escaped his lips.

"She says, 'I'm not myself.'"

* * *

Doctor Eggman watched a monitor from the space station. "Ah, this is going much better than expected."

Cubot scratched his head. "What's going on, Doc?"

"It appears that I won't need the second shot after all. Sonic has already become exactly what I need for the Eggman empire."

"Sure is a shame about Shadow, though."

"Oh no. He'll wake up soon." The Doctor slammed his fist on the desk. "If he could've been killed that easily, I would've done it a long time ago."

Suddenly, an evil glint formed in the Doctor's eye. "In fact... I've just got a brilliant idea! Get an escape pod ready, Cubot. Or, actually, get Orbot to do it. He's the more capable one anyway."

Cubot's parts sank towards the ground. "That hurts, Doc."

Eggman gave the robot a stern look and ignored the comment, feeling there were more important things to worry about than a robot's feelings. "And tell him to bring the Chaos Emerald and the experiment in tube number four. I'll need both of them. With their help, soon, both Sonic and Shadow will be mine!"

* * *

Shadow woke with a jolt, looking immediately at his chest. There was dried blood on his fur and some light scars, but he felt fine. He had healed quickly, just as the Professor had said, and he smiled at the memory. He never thought he'd see Professor Gerald again, or that Crudele would be with him. _The first two messages made sense... but what of Maria's?_ A smile crossed his face. _At least I know she's alright. She's somewhere out there, and if she's with the Professor, she's well taken care of._ It's all he had hoped for, and a small part of him felt at peace.

When he looked up, however, the smile faded from his face as he was reminded of more pressing matters. Corpses were strewn across the floor, claw marks appearing on their chests, their arms, and their throats. He realized that not only was the blood from his own wound dry, but so was their blood as well. _How long was I out?_ he wondered. The air was filled with the smell of dead flesh, and Shadow suppressed the urge to gag. _From the looks of it, I've been unconscious for at least an hour. Who knows what kind of havoc Sonic has wreaked by now? _

A loud growl echoed through the hallways. The same growl Shadow had heard once before, several weeks ago on Angel Island. The deep throated echo of anger and hurt. _I'm coming,_ Sonic, he determined as his jet shoes lit up the floor in a fast fury,_ I won't let you get away again._

**((We're heading for the final stretch, you guys! And I've been waiting to write this part for months. Months, I tell you! Keep an eye out next Wednesday to see what happens to our two favorite hedgehogs. They're in for their biggest obstacle yet.))**


	27. A Blue Emerald to Face the Past

**CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: A Blue Emerald to Face the Past**

******((And, after toil and labor, I'd finally finished writing it! This story, which started as a quirk in my brain at two a.m., is thirty chapters in total and approximately the length of the Great Gatsby, making it the second longest thing I've ever written. Wow.**

******I decided, since I'm planning on doing something special for the holiday season, that I'll put up two chapters a week for the next two weeks as a special treat. That way I can finish sooner. I got a lot of nice reviews, so I figure you guys won't mind it more often. Enjoy!))**

The growls and howls echoes through the hallways. Shadow attempted to place them, but it was no use; the sounds were interfering with each other and giving him a general direction at best. He tried his best to follow the familiar corridors, hoping the sound was building from proximity and not just a greater number of sources. He remembered he was trained in this very place how to hunt things down with a lack of senses, but it had been over fifty years ago. He tried to recall his lessons, what they wanted him to do, but it was hazy. _It's always when the information is vital that I can't recall, he thought to himself,_ cursing under his breath. Shadow narrowed his eyes as he turned a corner, hearing more growling and now a light whimper._ So someone here is still alive? And this area seems very familiar..._

Shadow stopped suddenly when the sounds got quieter. _Have I found you, Sonic? _He looked to his left and found a door with a keypad to the side. The door was blown clean off, and Shadow didn't have to guess twice what the cause was. _So he's in here. This place..._ He deemed the door unimportant as he walked into the room, mostly enshrouded in darkness save for the twinkling of the stars outside the window panels. Shadow tried to listen for the growling and whimpering, but inexplicably, they had stopped. Shadow shook his head; could he really have gone to the wrong room, after all his searching? Still, he found himself walking forward in the large, dark place. He knew this wasn't the time for such things, but this place tugged at him like a forgotten memory. He had to know what it was.

Stepping into the space, he found a keyboard near the center of the room. _Perhaps if I type the password, I'll see what is here._ Everybody on the station knew Gerald Robotnik's password - it was always MARIA, after his granddaughter - so Shadow typed the word into the keyboard and hit the enter key. The room whirred to life, lights turning on in all the corners and machines ascending from the floor. Two in particular sparked Shadow's interest; there was a tube with cracks in the top and bottom and, perhaps more important, the energy source connected it. A brilliant blue Chaos Emerald hooked into its metal claws, reviving the place in Shadow's mind. _This is where I was born,_ he realized, looking at the tube. _This is where Doctor Robotnik and Black Doom used to keep me when I wasn't conscious. I thought they would've gotten rid of this place a long time ago._ Grabbing the Chaos Emerald, he glared at the cracks at the top and bottom of the tube. _It's been tampered with, _he concluded. _But by whom?_

The black hedgehog had been so distracted with his own thoughts that he didn't notice the quiet thumping sounds that meshed with the electronics, the sounds of a beast marching in the room, looking for him. A deep growl, however, lifted him out of his memories. "Shadow. I thought you died. But then again, you were always so stubborn."

Shadow looked down, tightening his grip on the Chaos Emerald. He knew that voice so well. It was Sonic, yes, but not his Sonic. It was the beast that came at night, the one born from Sonic's fear and hatred and sadness. "Did you think I would die so easily and leave you behind? I'll bring you back."

The beast laughed. "Like you brought this one back? Go on and look, Shadow. Look at what you left behind."

When a high pitched squeal sounded through the room, Shadow turned around. No, it can't be... Next to the doorway of the room was the werehog he anticipated, staring him down with empty black eyes. But what he wasn't prepared for was the one under the monster's massive claw. Curls of blonde hair against a light blue dress. It couldn't be true. She had died. He _saw_ it with his own eyes.

"Ma-Maria?"

More laughter echoed in the room. "I remembered everything, Shadow. All those stories you told me back in prison. All the things GUN did to the two of you. But finding her here, I realized what she really was." Maria screamed as Sonic's claws tightened around her frail body.

"Stop! You're hurting her!"

"She's just like me, Shadow," Sonic continued, "someone that you supposedly loved so much, but when it came down to it... you left her." His body began twitching as his madness grew, a wild smile with sharp teeth gleaming. "And then, I needed you. And you died!"

Shadow overcame his shock, suddenly aware of what he had to do. This was just like the prison, he realized. He just needed to get in close, to remind Sonic of who he really was. Dropping the emerald, he ran in and grabbed the fur on Sonic's chest. "I'm right here, Sonic," he said, his deep voice filled with determination, "I'm still alive. I need you to remember who you are."

After a few moments, Shadow looked up, and his body became overcome with horror. Sonic's eyes hadn't gone back to their green. They were still black, empty, and angry. "Funny thing, Shadow," this dark Sonic had responded, pulling Shadow off his chest, "your little tricks don't work anymore." With a heave, the massive paw launched Shadow into the tube, slamming him into the scratched glass. Shadow winced as the broken glass cut into his back. It didn't matter much to him - pain was something he could deal with - but Shadow was overwhelmed with a different question.

_Did Sonic finally lose to the darkness?_

* * *

GUN was in a frenzy back on earth as they had their most eventful days in weeks. The two highest security prisoners were gone, a relatively inactive base came offline, and somehow, the commander had a feeling the two incidents were linked. He furrowed his brow as he looked at security footage from the Space Colony ARK, or what little he had of it. "There has to be some evidence on here," he mumbled to himself, "that incriminates those two. After this I can lock the two of them away for good, no doubts about it." The idea appealed to him greatly; he hated them, the both of them, and though GUN tended to be "above the law" most of the time, even they couldn't keep a famous figure like Sonic imprisoned for long under what he knew, now, were false charges.

Yes, he knew they were false. He had for weeks now. By the time they ran an autopsy, it became very clear that the cause of death was a microchip embedded in the Professor's brain, and though the hedgehog may be clever in a fighting environment, he lacked the knowledge to make such an advanced invention. This had Doctor Eggman written all over it, and everyone who had seen the evidence knew it.

Still, he needed to find something. Anything.

The tapes all seemed to give out in either static or a sudden fade to black, and from viewing their respective positions, he found that most that gave way to static - and were still, likely, operational - vastly outnumbered the sudden fades to black. The times of shutoff also signified that whatever caused the disturbance was a device of some sort. _It almost seems as though it's looking for something, _the commander deduced.

He shook his head, reminding himself that if it was a device, it couldn't be his targets. He narrowed down the search to cameras with the swift shift to black. The commander scowled as he noted that they were near the area that the... thing used to live in. Incriminating, sure, but not solid enough proof. "Is there nothing I can use to put those two away for good?" the commander yelled at his screen.

In a flash, he found what he was looking for. Most wouldn't have noticed the swift flash of grey before the black out, but the commander, fueled with obsession, took note of it instantly. "Wait a minute. Rewind!" He pressed a few buttons and froze on one of the final frames of footage. There, blurry but unmistakable, was a large claw.

"I have you now, freak. And in time, I'll have your little boyfriend too."

* * *

Shadow brought a gloved hand up to his face, feeling a warm, wet sensation. Looking at his glove, he saw a red stain. _Blood? _The monster was still glaring at him.

"Such a pity, Shadow. I thought you liked it rough." Sonic was smirking, and Shadow couldn't help but panic. He never expected this to happen. Sonic was stubborn, almost annoyingly so, and he never lost a fight. So what was this creature standing before him? It had Sonic's memories, it had his visage, but Shadow just couldn't believe it was him. Sonic didn't have this much hate, this much cruelty.

"And now, Shadow," the werehog growled, "I'm going to make you sit and watch as a little girl dies. Again."

He was brought out of his stupor long enough to grab the Chaos Emeralds. "No! I won't let you. You'll never forgive yourself."

"Me?" he laughed. "I thought I was beyond forgiveness as it is. This'll make us even, Shadow. After all," he said, smile turning into a dark frown, "I only watched as you died, didn't I?"

Suddenly, everything made sense to Shadow. Tails had warned him that the darkness got worse when Sonic was upset, and it especially took root when he wasn't there. Sonic loved Shadow, or at least, before this he had... watching him die would've broken him.

And when Shadow really paid attention to the large form in front of him, he realized how his body language betrayed how he really felt. The beast was trying to be threatening, yes, but the dropped shoulders, the slight drooping of the ears, it all gave a clear message; he was hurt, deep inside, where nobody but he could see.

"I see," Shadow said calmly, walking up to the werehog. Large claws from the beast's free hand lashed at him, but he used his speed to dodge them. "Do you think I wanted that for you?" he asked, not looking him in the eye. "I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted to leave you, and I still won't let you do something you'll regret."

The creature snarled at him in disgust as Shadow drew in close, continuing to talk. "I don't know what's wrong with you, Sonic," Shadow continued, "but I intend to fix it. You'll be back to normal soon enough; I swear it. First, however..."

He lowered the blue Chaos Emerald onto the beast's chest. It screamed and howled in pain, lifting both paws to aid the hurting area. Shadow acted quickly, grabbing the girl. He ran to the other side of the room as fast as he could without her falling over. He turned to finish his sentence to Sonic. "I need to find one more Chaos Emerald. I will be back. That is a promise."

A swipe of the claw met with only air as Shadow Chaos Controlled himself and the young girl to the other side of the ARK. He panted and dropped his guard, tired and upset before remembering who was next to him. "We should be safe for now. He isn't as fast as he normally is in that form. In the meantime, we-" Shadow was interrupted by a tackling hug from the girl in question. It took him by surprise, but then he realized just what was happening. What he thought would never happen again.

"Shadow, I was so scared!"

He put his hands on her back and her head, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "It's okay. You're okay." His eyes opened wide. "How are you okay? I saw you die!"

"That thing..." she continued, ignoring his question, "Was it an experiment I didn't know about? I thought I knew about everything on this ship." Tears were ebbing at the edges of her eyes. Shadow sighed. It didn't make sense to him; it had been over fifty years, and yet she still looked the same as the day he last saw her.

"He's not an experiment. At least, not one on here. It's hard to explain," he said, his hands lifting into a comforting embrace. "All I know is that-" His sentence was cut off suddenly as he felt a small bump along the back of the girl's head. _That's odd. It's just like the ones we found on the people in Holoska._

_"I'm not myself."_

Shadow pushed the girl off. He knew it was too good to be true. Betraying every sight, every gesture that she made, he let out three trembling words.

"You're- you're not Maria."


	28. A Purple Emerald to Complete Them

**CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: A Purple Emerald to Complete Them**

"What do you mean? Of course I'm Maria." The girl in front of him looked incredibly confused, wringing the hem of her skirt in her hands. She looked so innocent, but he knew it was an act. This girl was an impostor or a copy of some kind, and though he couldn't say he knew for sure, he had a pretty good indication of who was cruel enough to pull a stunt like this. "I don't know what you're saying, Shadow..."

That scar on the back of her head... the last person Shadow knew with that mark was Professor Crudele, and before him, only the dead in Holoska. Even the Professor had never looked well, always pale and shaking, before he died. But this girl seemed healthy and happy, having a vitality that the Maria he remembered could never have. That should have been his first clue; Maria had been sick all her life.

Shadow grew angrier. "I don't know what you are, but you aren't Maria. Where did you come from."

"Stop it, Shadow. You're scaring me..."

"You're the one who's lying to me. Tell me the truth!"

"I am!"

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. "What are you? WHAT ARE YOU?"

"You're hurting me."

Shadow dropped her hand and looked at her eyes, welled up with tears. He tried to be angry, but looking at that face with quivering lips and watery eyes...

As illogical as it seemed, he couldn't take it.

"Alright, alright, just stop. Kid, what do you want with me?"

The little girl rubbed her wrist. "I just wanted to see you again..."

The black hedgehog's eyes softened. "You don't have to pretend to be someone you aren't. I know you aren't Maria. Maria died fifty years ago."

The girl looked at her skirt again, playing with the hem once more. "Died? But... I remember everything. I remember running through these corridors on the night GUN attacked. We had passed through the hall that way," she said, nudging her head to the left, "and then, in that room over there, you got in a pod, I put in the codes to release you, and..." She scrunched up her face. "I can't remember anything else. I must have fallen asleep."

_Permanent sleep,_ Shadow thought to himself. But glancing up, he saw that it was the correct place on the station. Somehow, she knew. "I don't understand..."

"Don't understand that I've given her a new lease on life, Shadow?" a third voice interjected.

Shadow turned to face the newcomer, a large man with a bulky mustache riding a robotic flying contraption. "Doctor Eggman," Shadow said, shifting into a battle ready stance. How could he have not heard him before? The whirring was obvious. "What have you done now?"

"It's funny that you mention it, Shadow. I had originally planned on furthering Sonic's condition along," he mocked with a wide, toothy grin, "when an unexpected event spiked the Dark Gaia inside of him. And, if I understand correctly, a more recent tragic event made him succumb completely on his own. I don't need to follow the original plan of giving Sonic a second dose of the good stuff; he's done just fine on his own."

The Doctor looked at Shadow with a deep malice, his goggles shining under the fluorescent lights of the space station. Shadow deeply wanted to attack the man, here and now, and smack the teeth out of that evil grin... but if he wanted to defeat Doctor Eggman, he knew he'd have to be patient and wait for him to tell him the entire plan, as he was wont to do.

And surely enough, he just kept talking. "So I was at a loss for what to do. At first I looked into doing some genetics research up here using the ARK's resources. Soldiers make perfect little lab rats after all, and they all took the chips better than others. But imagine my surprise when I see an entire room of genetic material from previous deaths on the station. Some pieces were old... fifty years old."

"You mean..."

"And wouldn't you know it, I found a frozen, intact brain of one Miss Maria Robotnik, and enough material to grow a body."

Maria - no, not Maria - walked towards the Doctor. "Wait!" Shadow yelled, but the man only laughed as she came up close to the machine. He stroked her long blonde hair like a beloved pet. "Come now, Shadow," the Doctor said with a smug grin on his face, "you don't expect Maria to distrust her own cousin, do you? Especially considering..." he said, bringing a remote control out for the black hedgehog to see, "... she's programmed not to."

The rage welled up inside Shadow again, not able to keep silent a moment longer. "You experimented on your own family?" he snapped bitterly at the Doctor, clenching his fists tight.

"A long lost relative, really. And let me ask you, who holds this girl closer to their heart? You, who grew up with her as a sister, who would've died to save her life? Or me, who sees a brilliant mind in the works, but otherwise an unremarkable specimen of the human race? It was truly an act of mercy on my part, to fashion a healthy body for her." He stroked the button on the remote with his index finger. "One I can simply control or kill at my leisure, I might add. It's much easier to make the proper connections on a brain that is quote unquote dead. "

Shadow dropped his arm. "What do you want from me, Doctor?"

The evil scientist clapped his hands together in glee before reaching under his control pad. "Ah, I knew you'd see things my way!" After fumbling around a moment or two in his device (and Shadow wondering just how much garbage the egghead could possibly carry in such a small carrier), Eggman lifted his hand out and Shadow widened his eyes. In the Doctor's hands was the last Chaos Emerald, shining a brilliant purple, sensing the presence of the rest of the gems hidden away on Shadow's person.

"See, my machines don't have enough energy at the moment to make all the chips work as properly as Maria's do. It requires a very specific frequency that I cannot achieve by normal means. If you give me the remaining Chaos Emeralds," he said, dangling Maria's remote in the fingers of his other hand, "I'll give this to you and the two of you can live out the rest of your days as originally intended. If you don't, I push the red button, and she dies. So what'll it be, Shadow?"

The hedgehog paused a moment, trembling. To save the world was what the Maria he knew would have wanted, but if he gave the Emerald to Doctor Eggman, he'd lose Maria again.

The choice was clear.

"Give me the remote."

The plump man tossed the device at him, which he caught with a swipe of his hand. "And now the Emeralds," he said, opening his palm out expectantly. A few moments passed as the hedgehog looked at it. He then closed his eyes and shook his head

"I'm afraid not, Doctor."

With a blast of energy coming through his shoes, Shadow scorched the floor as he approached the carrier. The Doctor's face showed obvious surprise as he tried to back away. Unfortunately for him, he not escape the Ultimate Lifeform's flying leap. A gloved fist hit him right in the goggles, distracting him while the hedgehog tore the purple emerald from his now open hands. Tucking into a roll, Shadow glanced off the side of the carrier, landing next to the girl at it's side.

"Why you little-"

"Now if you'll excuse me," Shadow said, grabbing on to the girl's body, "I have another to save from your twisted experiments."

A brilliant light overtook the two bodies before they disappeared, leaving Eggman to fume in anger alone.

* * *

Back at the original end of the station, a flash of light signaled the arrival of Shadow and the girl he didn't believe was Maria a few meters away from where the Werehog had torn away the door. Growls and snarls echoed throughout the corridors, and Shadow reflexively put himself in a defensive position between himself and the girl. She was obviously frightened to be back in this place, but she tried to stop her trembling. Maria may have been many things, but she was not a coward.

"So that's what Chaos Control feels like. I'd always wondered..."

Shadow looked at her with pitying eyes. This girl had all the same memories, the same face, but the way she had come so close to Eggman, let him touch her the ways he did, and acted so docile as he talked openly about controlling her, murdering her... it didn't seem like the Maria he knew at all.

But then again, in fifty years, he had changed so much. Why wouldn't she? And besides, it was pointless to wonder about such things when a ferocious monster with strong arms, sharp claws, and even sharper teeth was looking for the both of them. Whether or not she was the same Maria that he knew was irrelevant; whoever she was, she needed to be protected.

At least, that's what Shadow told himself. Sentiment may have had a larger part in this than he would've liked to admit.

He yanked the girl up to his feet and looked her straight in the eyes. "Now you listen to me," he said calmly, yet with a strength behind his voice that demanded attention, "if you really are Maria, you'll know she was always a fast runner. I need you to go to the escape pods, grab one, and go down to Earth."

Her face twitched in surprise. "Earth? But I don't want to go without you. We always said we'd go together!"

"I've been on Earth, Maria. You sent me there yourself."

"You mean it worked?" Those big blue eyes widened in recognition.

"It did. In any case, if you're here, I'll be trying to protect you instead of helping him. It's better if you go."

"Helping him?

"It's a long story, but you need to leave now."

"But I can-"

Shadow grabbed the girl's hand, and she stopped speaking. Shadow's eyes were softer, like they had been all those years ago, before all this. "Please," he pleaded, "just go."

Shadow was a typically stubborn personality. He seldom didn't get what he wanted, whether it was handed to him or he had to take it by force. He had always been strong and proud, and even when he didn't remember his own past, he only did what others told him to when it felt convenient. But now, here he was, begging to a little girl.

She did not take this lightly, instead nodding her head in silence. He let go of her arm. "Once you get to Earth, contact a fox named Miles Prower in Spagonia and tell him about your condition. If he can't figure out how to get you back to normal, he'll at least point you to someone who can."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be down soon enough. I've learned plenty of things in the past fifty years." He glanced towards the room with no door, hearing the growls. It seemed suspicious to him that Sonic hadn't come yet; he knew from experience that in his night form, Sonic's hearing was much stronger than during the day. He should've been able to attack them by now... unless he was playing with his prey before killing it.

"Now go. He'll be coming soon, and I can't hold him off forever. But first..."

Shadow tossed the remote to Maria, who diligently caught it. "What are you..."

"You decide your own path, Maria. The Doctor, me... we shouldn't try to do it for you." Shadow clenched his fists and made sure he had a strong hold on the communicator, turning towards the animalistic sounds. "Now go."

She turned and ran obediently, following the hallways far away. Shadow sighed in relief. I won't have to see her die again, he assured himself. But now...

"I know you can hear me!" Shadow called out. "You're big and angry, but you aren't a fool." The growls suddenly stopped, replaced by a light tapping of claws on metal. "Come out," Shadow said sternly into the empty hall, "I'm the one you want, right?"

A deep throated echo sounded through the area, and Shadow couldn't help but feel an instinctive shiver come up his spine. A large dark figure bounded through the hall and pinned him to the wall with claws as sharp as blades. "I do want you, Shadow. In every sense of the word."


	29. Get Out

**CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: Get Out**

Shadow had never been scared of Sonic in his werehog before, against all reason. Before now, Shadow had been Sonic's constant; he was what made Sonic sane when nothing else could. There had never been reason for fear before.

But now, as he stared at the creature's gaping maw, struggling to breath under the grip of his massive paw, he realized this was no longer the case.

"What?" the beast asked. "Come on then. Try to escape. Attack me. It's more fun that way." The grin on his face was sickening, one of his canines sticking out of his mouth like a fishing hook. It was the face of a predator playing with its food before eating it. And Shadow? He was the prey.

"I don't - want - to hurt you. I just - want - to help-" Shadow tried to reason with him, barely managing to speak. Of all the ways he could die, he never thought Sonic strangling him would be one. At least, not literally.

"Then why don't you drop those Chaos Emeralds, huh?" The werehog leaned in to Shadow, putting more weight on his frame. "I mean, really now. You know how much it hurts."

"Sometimes, even when you try to help people, they feel the need to make you their enemy," Shadow replied, opening the communicator. Sonic flinched for all of an instant before laughing and stretching out his clawed arm, slapping the device out of Shadow's hands and scattering the gems across the floor.

"Like you care about hurting me. That's all we do, isn't it? Fight and race and fight... and just when I think you're something special, that there's something more to us..."

Sonic slashed Shadow across the stomach, reopening his gunshot wound. Shadow screamed in surprise, and Sonic's features grew grim. "...the 'Ultimate Lifeform' just dies. If you like me so much, then why would you hurt me like that?"

Shadow scowled. "Like I had a choice." A bright flash came from Shadow's palm, and Sonic's shielded his eyes in response, releasing Shadow.

"You found the last Chaos Emerald!"

Shadow ran at Sonic, pressing the emerald into his chest. Sonic howled like he had been touched with a hot poker, but while Shadow winced at the screaming, he didn't let up. "I didn't mean to hurt you then," Shadow said while he pushed Sonic over, who barely resisted due to the pain, "and I swear this is the last time I'll hurt you now." He made use of his speed, picking up the other emeralds in split seconds. With all the Emeralds together he felt the tug of his body, wanting to go Super. But he restrained himself. This was for Sonic.

"I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it would help you," Shadow said to the beast before touching his back with another Chaos Emerald. More howls pierced the air, and the large werehog fell to the ground, huffing. _It's good he's still susceptible to this,_ Shadow thought, _or I'd have a lot of problems keeping him under control._

"I don't believe you. I mean, how exactly are you going to use those emeralds, if not to hurt me? I'm too far gone to cure."

"I refuse to believe that," Shadow stated as he straddled Sonic's back, placing two more Chaos emeralds in his shoulder blades and bracing himself for the screaming. "I won't let you give up on yourself. I won't lose you again."

"You think- GAH," he yelled as Shadow placed another of the gems in the large patches of fur protruding from his head, "that there's anything left to save? Laughable."

Shadow couldn't help but notice that Sonic wasn't fighting him anymore, but twitching, convulsing almost. The black eyes clamped shut, but it didn't stop tears from seeping out. He almost seemed... weaker. It was all Shadow could do to not call it all off and stop it right then and there. But he could only press down on the last two gems in vain, willing for something, anything, to happen. Why isn't this working? Shadow began to grow fearful. The Professor said this would help, but nothing is happening.

"I told you," the werehog whimpered, "I'm too far gone. Nothing you do to me can help." It was odd... Sonic almost sounded disappointed too. Maybe somewhere, underneath all of the hurt and pain, he just wanted to be free again.

And then a thought struck Shadow. Sonic was right. Nothing outside of him could change a thing.

He'd have to make his way inside.

Shadow felt the familiar pull of the Chaos Emeralds and finally let them do what they wanted. His fur lightened to an extremely pale yellow, only the red stripes remaining unchanged. He lifted slightly in the air and Sonic, no doubt noticing the lack of painful stones, made his way to his feet. "What are you-"

Sonic was interrupted with what would be the most exhilarating kiss of his life.

* * *

Maria did her best to follow Shadow's orders, running away from echoing yells of the monster. Shadow is taking care of it, she told herself. I shouldn't be so surprised. After all, it's what he was trained to do up here, after all. Still, the screaming of the wolf worried her. She had seen so much death already, and experienced it herself. The thought of willfully hurting another person made her blood run cold.

And yet, she trusted Shadow. Everything before her cousin woke her up was a little hazy, but from what she did remember, he had been like family. He was only trying to protect her while giving her a chance to go to the planet she loved so much. So she ran dutifully down the halls, making her way to the escape pods. She knew all the routes around the base and the passcodes to all the doors.

It all would have gone swimmingly if she hadn't have been intercepted by one of her cousin's robots - Orbot, she thought he was called. "What are you doing?" she asked of the small robot, looking at his blinking optic sensors.

"Ah, when Shadow ran off with you, the Doctor sent me out to look for you. He wanted to make sure you were protected."

Maria bristled a little. "I can protect myself, thank you."

"Well, the Doctor just wanted to know where you were going."

"Earth, actually," she said, trying to sound more comfortable in herself than she felt. "I've been in space for too long, and now that I'm healthy, I should be fine there."

"Earth?" The robot seemed to jump a little before quickly regaining his composure. "Well, in that case, I should give this to you now."

The small robot seemed to pull a small kit out of nowhere. She opened the metal casing and the contents took her breath away. It was a small set of tools and some medical supplies. "What the Doctor said earlier... all those things about hurting people... you have to understand that Shadow has violent tendencies and the Doctor was trying to get through to him the only way he could. He wants you to be safe and healthy."

"Violent tendancies..." The blonde girl looked blankly at the kit, and she noticed one item was different than the others. While everything else looked pristine and new, there was one syringe that was already filled with a dark purple liquid, and the casing had small dents on it. "And this?"

The robot paused a moment. "That's the other thing I need to tell you. That's, uh, special medicine. For Shadow."

She narrowed her eyes. "He's designed never to get sick."

"And you don't think that new illnesses have arisen in the past fifty years? He isn't sick now, but he could fall sick from almost anything. That is essentially a mass vaccine. Inject him with that and he'll be able to face the world stronger than ever."

She lifted the syringe, staring at the liquid. "Why would he want to help Shadow? He was just threatening him."

"Shadow doesn't understand what's best. He's practically a brother to you, isn't he? Wouldn't that also make him the Doctor's cousin?"

Maria glanced down before realizing she didn't have much reason to distrust the Doctor. He may be a little cracked in the head, but ultimately, he was responsible for her being here. And he was a Robotnik.

"I'll go back to get them. It sounds like the two of them are fighting, and Shadow's going to need first aid."

She pivoted on her feet and ran back toward the screams, leaving the robot delighted that he had followed orders. Now, it was only a matter of time...

* * *

If it was possible to be set on fire and electrocuted at the same time, that would have been the sensation Sonic awoke to. He couldn't make out much of anything but blinding brightness and the push of...something in his body, flowing like a current of energy. It felt like the pain of transformation, the rush of going Super, and... something else, all at the same time. He couldn't quite place what, but he didn't fight it at all. It almost felt nice.

A few minutes passed before the sensation slowed down, the fire rushing through his veins fading, and Sonic's body focused again. He could feel trembling lips on his, gloved hands wrapped around his waist, and the heat of another's chest against his own. His eyes began to work as they should, letting a dimming Super Shadow come into focus. Now it all made sense; that other feeling... it was the pounding in Sonic's chest that always happened when Shadow was nearby. It was the fluttering in his stomach at Shadow's touch. And lastly, it was the indescribable feeling of excitement that came with the sharing of what Sonic could now safely call love.

"I thought you were dead," Sonic's voice cracked. It was a miracle he got his voice to work; the rest of him could barely move, save to catch the now dwindling Shadow. The Chaos Emeralds did not get the same treatment as they clattered across the cold metal surface. Looking down at them, Sonic noticed his arms were still large and clawed, but at this point he didn't care. He was more concerned about Shadow. His still alive Shadow.

"I'm sorry," a dry rasp came from the almost entirely faded hedgehog, "I couldn't get it all out... I tried so hard and failed you..."

"No, Shadow," Sonic said, voice cracking. How he managed to speak was beyond him; the rest of him was frozen in place. He noticed how much lighter he seemed, like a large weight was lifted from his chest. "Whatever you did... it saved me."

Sonic couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the now entirely black hedgehog smile. "Well," he said with a smirk on his face, "I guess I've finally done something right." He looked up at Sonic for an instant before falling unconscious in his arms.

"Shadow? SHADOW!" The werehog yelled at the limp body and shook it ferociously, but it was no use. The werehog could only groan and lift up his legs, carrying the hedgehog bridal style. _Now where do I go from here... actually, how do I get out of here without Shadow?_

"Get away from him!"

Sonic turned as his question was answered in a little girl. Sonic couldn't believe his eyes. "You're- you're that girl from Shadow's pictures!"

The girl wavered, her hands gripped tight around a metal case. "I s-said get away." She glanced at him for a few seconds before softening. "Your eyes..." she muttered.

"What about them?"

"They're green."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders as well as he could while still holding Shadow close to him. "Yeah, aren't they always?"

"No...they were black..."

Sonic froze. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember much of anything after Shadow got shot... Could he have...?

"Did I hurt you?"

"You tried, but no."

"Did I hurt Shadow?"

"A few scrapes, but he heals fast."

"And," Sonic had to pause, looking at the dried blood in the hallways, "did I hurt anyone else?"

The girl didn't answer, instead walking up to him and touching his shoulder. "I don't know what Shadow did to you," she bemused, "but you're different then before."

All at once, Sonic's anxiety seemed to melt away. It was true what Shadow had said - Maria could make you feel peaceful in an instant.

"We need to get going, and I can't Chaos Control down. Do you know where the escape pods are?"

Maria nodded her head with newfound conviction. Now, it was time for serious business. "Let me pick the Emeralds up and then I'll show you. It's around the corner of that hallway, and you basically go straight from there."

Sonic, for the first time since he woke, flashed her a smile. "Well, then. Let's get going!"

**((The next chapter is in editing and being extremely stubborn. Writing lovey-fluffy stuff is difficult at the moment due to my personal life clashing a bit, but suffice it to say they were woefully out of character. Hopefully I can fix it in time for my next regular update, but I thought I'd warn you in case it's up late.))**


	30. Gasp

CHAPTER THIRTY: Gasp

Shadow arose from unconsciousness slowly, not entirely sure what was happening. Everything blurred; he couldn't see things very well, and he could only hear the occasional word break through the haze.

"Maria - break - pod."

"But I - Shadow - first aid."

"-heals-fine."

"-medicine-important."

"Sure-friend-help-quickly."

Shadow stopped trying to figure out what those two were saying. It made his head hurt to try, and besides, it wasn't necessary. He wasn't dead, and he took that to mean that, at least for now, Sonic was back to his normal self. He trusted Sonic.

What was going on, anyway? Shadow became aware of the fur underneath him. He saw patches of blue and yellow over him, and he felt a small body pressing him down. _Am I on Sonic's back? _Shadow was confused. Sonic, for this entire time, only took advantage of this animalistic run when it was absolutely necessary. He didn't like feeling like a beast, so the fact he was going like this meant...

_My condition must be worse that I thought._

A loud siren created a dull ache in his ears as things began to clarify. The three of them were in one of the escape completely, but enough to see the outlines of people. He could understand words again, but trying to speak them himself didn't work. He couldn't so much as nod in response.

"Sonic, he's awake."

"Shadow? Are you alright?"

Shadow tried giving a weak smile, but Sonic only looked more worried. "Maria, you said you had some kind of medicine?"

"Yes."

"Give it to him. I'll go break the other pods."

"But then Ivo can't get out!"

"Ivo? You mean Eggman?"

An explosion ripped him from the conversation, and Sonic ran out of the pod. Shadow knew what he was trying to do, but it wouldn't work. Dr. Eggman got in somewhere other than the escape pod bay, and he'd get out the same way. Still, he couldn't say anything, so he just let him go, instead focusing on the other occupant of the room: Maria.

After all this time... he was with her again. Maria and Shadow, so close they were practically siblings, defying the odds. It should have filled Shadow with happiness. It would have, too, if a certain object hadn't come into his vision.

"Shadow," Maria said lovingly, "Ivo said this would help!"

In her hand was a syringe, filled with a familiar, panic inducing purple substance. _Artificial Dark Gaia... but why would she-?_

"I know you don't trust him," she continued, shifting in her chair as she readied the needle, "but he brought me back from the dead, in a sense. It may sound crazy, but I trust him." She swabbed his forearm with a moist cloth, and Shadow tried to protest, but he still couldn't speak.

_He's evil, Maria. Can't you see that? You're a smart girl._

"Not to mention he's my cousin."

_But still..._

"Now, this may sting a bit.I know you're used to needles, but still..."

Shadow's eyes widened as he felt the tip of the needle make its way through his fur, lightly puncturing the skin. Maria's face was now in clear focus, and he saw an expression of worry on her face. _She's doing this because she thinks it'll help me, _Shadow realized, _just like I did to Sonic all that time ago._ His face went into a light smirk. _I guess we're both fools._

The purple substance pushed its way through to his upper arm, Maria's thumb pressing down on the syringe, and Shadow braced himself. A dull ache was the beginning of his pain, around the site of the injection. However, in pulsing throbs, it started to spread, reaching out into his arm, then his shoulder. The ache became a pressing, burning hurt, and when it hit his chest, Shadow struggled to breathe. _So this is what it's like to die..._ All of the warnings, all of his efforts, and he was going to die here. So close to curing Sonic. So close to getting Maria back to Earth. So close to finally having peace. _Perhaps this was my fate, _Shadow considered,

The pain grew unbearable, now closing on the rest of his body. Shadow could think of nothing else but the consuming burning. He went into shock, and to Maria's horror, he closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

* * *

Debris was splayed out on the escape pod bay, and Sonic weaved and ducked to avoid the shrapnel from the explosions. As a hedgehog this would've been easy, but a large lumbering body had more trouble. By the time all the escape pods were broken, Sonic had gotten hit at least five times with stray shards of metal, one making a cut on his shoulder that was bleeding profusely. He ignored the pain and the light dizziness, more focused on other matters.

_Shadow,_ Sonic worried, _are you really okay? I don't know what happened to you, but I'll fix it. Somehow. _It was no surprise that Sonic had no plan - he almost never did - but right now, he wished that he didn't have to just hope for the best. Shadow would've thought things out. Shadow would've made things better. But right now, Shadow was incapacitated, and Sonic could only work with himself, unfortunately.

He approached the final escape pod bay, and with four jabs of his gargantuan arms, the metal was curled and twisted together. He raked it with his claws, a mark of this effort's conclusion. It was done. All the doors, at least here, were sealed. Of course, Sonic knew it didn't make much of a difference; there were other escape pod bays, and even if there weren't, Eggman wasn't above blowing up things to get his way. But if it slowed him down, even for a second, it was worth it.

Why was Sonic acting this way?

The world seemed to blur around him, but not like it did when he was running. No, it was more like his whole body was out of focus, struggling to remain upright. _Curse this body... curse this fate... I can't even stand well anymore._ His center of gravity constantly shifted, and it was getting more and more difficult to stay conscious.

_I just have to get back_, he thought. _Back to the pod, back to Earth, back with Shadow_. His mind stuck on this one concept, temporarily forgetting his body's predicament. He eyed the scratches on the door, but they didn't disturb him like they would have before. Nothing more to be done about it.

The second he reached the pod doors, Sonic fell forward, collapsing with a heat on his hands and knees - er, paws and knees. The young girl looked at him with a worried expression on your face.

"You're injured..." she muttered, voice shaking.

"Only a scratch. No sweat," he said, his arm trembling as he attempted to make a thumbs up. Unfortunately, the claw made it look more like a threatening gesture, so he resigned himself, putting the paw down and crawling forward. He fully laid on the floor, pride be damned, once he was entirely sure he was in the pod. It didn't make sense. Why was he so tired all of the sudden? He wasn't bleeding that much.

"Your arm..." Maria said, reaching out. Sonic quickly flinched and backed away.

"I said it's fine," a bit of annoyance steeping into his voice, "so would you stop-"

"No, you don't understand, Sonic. It's steaming purple," she said, her voice toning down with a flicker of curiosity to it. She had the same look in her eyes that Tails had when he was near a blueprint for a new engine, filled with desire to know how it worked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"You grew up on a space station. There are probably a lot of things you haven't seen before."

But when he looked at his arm, he saw it - a purple haze, spiraling over the wound, and it seemed to come out of his blood. It almost looked like... when he transformed? But he didn't feel any pain, and as far as he could tell, he still looked the same. So what was this? What was going on?

The steam floated in the air a moment, and maybe it was because he was having difficulty staying conscious, but the way in moved in the air, spinning like a slow, winding tornado, entranced him. It rose in the spirals and hovered before moving away. The more that rose, the more dizzy and blurry everything got. "Where is it going, Maria? I can't see."

The words were met with a reply too blurred to comprehend. They were lost to him as he vaguely saw the dark blue of his arm turning into a bright cobalt, followed by everything fading to black.

* * *

This was not the best of days for Maria, even if you were only considering the days since she last "woke up."

Everything should have been fine, right? After all, it was her cousin that woke her. She had immediately noted the resemblance of the man and her grandfather; they had the same large mustaches, the same goggles, and even the same voice, though her grandfather's had shook with age. He told her how the world passed by, her old body, and her grandfather dead. But he had comforted her with the promise of a new life, should she help him with this one little thing...

She had always been overly trusting. He was her family, after all.

Her head shook, blonde hair swaying back and forth. Now she was in an escape pod with two unconscious sapients, both for reasons unexplained, there were sirens blaring in the background, and she was entirely responsible for the fate of the vessel. If she succeeded, she would not only be able to help both of them, but she'd get to go to the surface for the first time. Her dream.

Of course, if she failed, they would all die a fiery death. No pressure.

Working with the dials and mechanisms, she wished that her memories were still in tact. Gerald Robotnik had explained all of this to her before, but whenever she tried to focus on anything from before, it seemed to slip away. Upon pressing a large yellow button, the doors closed and the pod launched into space, going in an orbit parallel to, but not quite the same as, the ARK. Maria breathed a sigh of relief. She had some time. Time was good.

Turning back to her two companions, she watched as the purple smoke, mist, whatever it was floated up off of the beast. He fell to the ground and, to her wonder, he changed before her eyes. The arms, which had wider than the creature's head, narrowed and shifted until they were long and lean, very little muscle on them. The large mass of fur slimmed into blue spines, swept back as if by the wind. Sharp teeth shrunk and claws retracted into hands. It was all so seemless, like watching a film play inreverse.

When it was all done, all that was left was a hedgehog, one with a remarkable resemblance to Shadow. He was cobalt blue, and though not as muscular as Shadow, he obviously was in good shape. The hedgehog took deep breaths, as though he could sleep for the first time in ages, and Maria couldn't help but smile. _It looks like he's going to be fine._

There was not much time to contemplate the hedgehog's wellbeing, because after a sizable amount of the mist gathered, it pooled into a cloud. For a moment, it hovered like a cartoon cloud over a gloomy character's head. Then, as if drawn by a spell, it flew at Shadow, going in his open mouth. Shadow started coughing and twitching wildly as it hit him, and Maria had a realization. _That mist... It looks like what I just injected into Shadow._ Her eyes widened. Ivo had said it was medicine, but from the looks of it, whatever the stuff was, it certainly didn't help anything. Sonic - was that his name? - said that Ivo couldn't be trusted. Was this what he meant? _When those hedgehogs wake up, they have a lot of explaining to do,_ she resolved to herself, _about themselves and Ivo and everything else._ The clanking of robotics interrupted her thoughts. She looked out the pod window. Two robots were chasing her, armed with jets to move and missile launchers. Her fists clenched as she looked back at the dashboard. _For now I need to focus on getting this pod down. Otherwise, we'll all be in danger._

The one other thing Sonic had told her before running off was a contact number. One for a dear friend of his that was good with robotics and engineering. "He's an old buddy," the beast had said, "practically my brother, and he's a genius to boot. If he can't help us - well, we might be beyond saving." He had said it so jokingly back then. It didn't seem so funny now.

Steering the pod with one hand and dialing the number with the other, she only hoped that this person could help. After dodging two missiles, she breathed a small sigh of relief when a voice came on the communicator.

"Hello, this is Miles 'Tails' Prower. May I ask who is calling?"

* * *

**Hey, you all remember when I used to update regularly? Good times, man. Good times.**

**This is just a sporatic update since I have one brief shining moment where my internet use isn't monitored. In between finals, family computers, and now international excursions, it isn't that I haven't written; it's more that I can't get on the site to update. In about a week and a half, I should be back on a regular schedule again.**

**Also, in editing the ending... I hated it. And in revisions, it stretched out to be much longer. I think in total, now, the story is going to be 32 or 33 chapters. I also have a few oneshots, but I don't know whether to post them soon or as a light interval before my next long fanfic. Decisions, decisions.**

**That being said, please review. It makes me happy.**

**And for all of the new readers, welcome! I don't know if someone recommended me or what happened, but I've gotten a lot of praise lately, so thank you. I'll try to live up to it.**


	31. On the Other End

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: On the Other End

Three weeks ago: Sonic and Shadow had been taken away from the government, nearly all outside contact cut off.

Three days ago: The amount of time ago that Tails found the locations of the last two Chaos Emeralds in their bizarre locations, and sent Rouge to get Shadow and Sonic out of prison.

Three hours ago: Police reports began coverage of two escaped prisoners, as well as a crisis on the international space colony ARK where many soldiers were getting killed. Tails could tell from what little footage was on the screen exactly the cause, but didn't want to believe it.

Three minutes ago: Rouge gave her last phone call to Tails. They both were up in space, she confirmed, but she was captured in the attempt. Faint worry seeped into her voice, and a man barked to hang up the phone. The line went dead.

Three seconds ago: As Tails watched the news coverage with worry, the phone began to ring again. Tails jumped at it, hoping it was Rouge, but instead it was an unknown number. _Telemarketers at a time like this?_ He picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is Miles 'Tails' Prower. May I ask who is calling?" the young fox asked, some tension slipping into his voice.

"Oh," a crackling voice said from the other end of the line. It was obviously female, and young. "Sonic must have told me the wrong contact information. You're obviously not who we want."

Tails' ears perked at the mention of Sonic's name. "Sonic? You mean he's alive?" the fox kit asked into the phone, at once starting to bound down the steps. If Sonic was alive and trying to contact him, he would be ready for whatever he needed.

"What, is Sonic famous or something? No, wait, there's no time," she said, taking deep breaths. Tails could swear he heard explosions in the background. Typical Sonic, he thought. The girl began to speak again. "I'm sorry, I'm just a bit, um, occupied at the moment. Can you please put me on the phone with the engineer?"

Tails looked at the phone. "I am the engineer. I know I may sound young, but I'm smart, and I can help. Put Sonic on. He'll vouch for me."

"Sonic is indisposed at the moment. This is Maria Robotnik speaking from ARK Escape Pod number... zero zero four. I need instructions on how to land this thing, and if there are any security measures that can defend against missiles launched by robots, that would be wonderful."

Indisposed? "I'll do the best I can. Just give me a few minutes to hack into the military's database and find the designs."

A screech rang through the other end of the line as a loud thud sounded. "Hurry! I don't know how many more hits we can take!"

* * *

Sonic's mind was peaceful. Just him and the werehog. No fighting. No yelling.

"Well, I had my fun," the werehog told Sonic, "but thanks to that boy of yours, I guess you win."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't understand." Standing up, he walked closer to the beast.

The werehog laughed. "You're so dense. Almost all the Dark Gaia? It's gone. He took it. Frankly, I'm not sure how, but he did."

Took it? How does that work? "But you're still here."

He shrugged his broad shoulders, moving onto all fours. "I'm barely a wisp of the beast I used to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not gone. You'll still see me once in a while... I think I'll surprise you as to when. But I'm all but defeated."

Sonic looked down at his feet. It was true, he was glad to be back to normal. But the weight of the other's words caught up with him. "So... if Shadow took the Dark Gaia from me, does that mean-"

"-that he'll become a lumbering monster like me?" The other grinned, baring his sharp incisors. "Nah, you just get me because you're special. Pure heart and all of that. To be honest, I don't know what'll happen to your little toy. He isn't exactly normal, either."

A frown spread on the blue hedgehog's face. "Any guesses?"

"He could be like the people were a few years ago, mostly unharmed but crazy irritable. He could be driven insane. He could die. Loads of good options there." The werehog laughed, but Sonic was much less amused.

"Is this funny to you?"

The laughter calmed down, just slightly. "Hey, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of your boy there. I don't care what happens to him."

"You didn't kill him."

The smile vanished. "I suppose that is true. I am a part of you, after all."

Tremors swept Sonic's mind as he felt himself pulled out, slowly regaining consciousness. "I guess that's my cue to leave," he said."

"Yep. You go off and save kittens from trees or whatever it is you annoying heroes do."

Sonic smirked. "I think helping Shadow has to come first, doesn't it?"

The werehog grinned back. "Whatever you say. I'm not in charge anymore."

The beast began to fade away. "Yo, shrimp," he said, the last words before vanishing completely, "he's a pretty one, isn't he?"

Sonic smiled. "Yeah. I guess he is."

* * *

Luckily for Maria, this wasn't Tails' first time hacking into a military database (no wonder Sonic occasionally told him he was too smart for his own good) and it took him only a few minutes to break through the security. They had gone lax since Eggman stopped being active, and besides, Tails had to keep an eye on those two in prison somehow, right?

Honestly, though, he hoped those two never found out.

"Alright, I think I've got the schematics for the model they used on the ARK. First thing you need to do is activate the shields by pressing the yellow button on your left. They'll protect you from most of the missiles and also make sure you don't burn up as you pass through the atmosphere."

Click. "I think I've got it. What next?"

"There should be a monitor on your right hand side with bars across it. Can you count how many bars you see?"

"Four."

_This isn't good,_ Tails thought. "Okay, so don't panic, but..."

"Sonic!" She interrupted from the other end of the phone, "you're awake!" A low grumbling came across.

_Sonic?_ "Maria, you need to focus. What I'm saying is that you won't have enough fuel to last the entire trip."

"How much do we have?"

Tails winced. "Let's just say, unless a miracle happens fast, you'll be freefalling about four miles."

A thud and powering down sound echoed across the phone. "Miles, the shields. They're off."

No, he thought. Without those, even if it wasn't for the freefall, they would all burn to a crisp. "This isn't good."

"No, I would say not. Any ideas?"

"There's no hope of getting the shields back up; unfortunately, the technology is fifty years old, so they didn't make a backup. You only have a minute or two before the speed begins to melt the metal, and if anything strange happens in the wiring..."

"Spit it out, Miles."

"You'll explode!"

"Explode?"

Tails could hear Sonic's voice over the phone. "Wait," it gargled, barely audible, "why didn't I see it before? It's just like before..."

"What's going on Maria? What's Sonic up to?"

He heard a jumbled mash of sounds before the hedgehog's voice ran over the phone. "Yo, Tails! I think I've got a plan, and I've got to warn you; don't watch the news in the next few minutes. It might scare ya."

He could practically hear Sonic's cocky grin.

"Sonic? What are you-"

"I'll get us out of here. It's a lot better than exploding."

"Are you sure? What if-"

"Trust me, Tails."

The fox kit went silent. Ever since he was small, Sonic had been at the right place, at the right time, and he had just the right amount of luck to survive anything. He had saved him, and so many others, more times than he could count. If he couldn't depend on Sonic... well, that wasn't a possibility he was willing to look at.

"I will."

The phone went to a dial tone. Against his better judgement, Tails looked at his television screen just in time to see an escape pod fall through the atmosphere, going up in flames, and blowing to pieces.


	32. A Miracle

**CHAPTER THIRTY TWO: A Miracle**

It had been so obvious. All those years ago, when Sonic and Shadow only knew each other as enemies, Shadow had sent Sonic into space in a pod not unlike this one. At that time, Shadow had intended for Sonic to die, but Sonic saved himself, somehow.

Times certainly had changed.

Sonic could practically see the lines of heat in the air when his vision came back, distorting his vision of the girl in blue and the now incapacitated black hedgehog. The girl was on the communicator. "I think I got it, what's next?" she asked into it, her voice obviously strained from worry. She gripped the dashboard with her other hand, a trembling hand threatening to give out any moment. _This isn't good,_ Sonic thought. _It's just like all those years ago..._

"Four," she spoke into the phone. Fully bringing himself awake, he saw the outside of the pod blur as it fell. _Falling from space and about to die again, huh? _Sonic looked over at Shadow. Seems to be a theme for us, eh Shads? Except with my curse, I can't get us out this time.

Sitting up, he walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Shadow," he whispered, knowing full well Shadow couldn't hear him. The other didn't even stir at the touch, no reaction to the warmth of his gloved hand.

"Wait," he mumbled, mostly to himself. Gloved hand? And was that... a blue arm?

Sonic shook his head from side to side, gazing over every inch of himself. He was back to normal, but the pod was still eclipsed by the planet in the dark of night. "Why didn't I see it before? It's just like before..."

Shadow did it. He cured him.

If he was to die, at least he would die as himself, but somehow, now that he was cured, he didn't think it had to happen. Call it that foolish confidence he always seemed to have. They could do it. They could escape.

Sonic had never done a Chaos Control from this far before. He didn't know if he could actually do a Chaos Control at all, or if his appearance was deceiving him.

"Yo, Tails! I think I've got a plan, and I've got to warn you; don't watch the news in the next few minutes. It might scare ya." _Especially if I die,_ he added in his head, but he tried very hard to keep on a brave face, even if it was only for the sake of the people he was with. Maria was too smart for him and gave him a worried look. Before she could say anything he shot her a thumbs up. It may have been false confidence, but it was all they had at the moment.

"Sonic? What are you-" Tails' voice came through the cackling static.

Sonic interrupted him. "I'll get us out of here. It's a lot better than exploding." I grabbed the Chaos Emeralds, noting they didn't hurt to touch anymore. Instead, it was a pleasant current of energy, warming his body.

"Are you sure? What if-"

"Trust me, Tails."

There was a pause on the other line. "I will."

Sonic hung up, grabbed hold of both Maria and Shadow, and smiled as he muttered the famous two words.

"Chaos Control!"

* * *

The Ultimate Lifeform had never been sick before. It wasn't programmed in him to be; he was supposed to be the cure for NIDS, and therefore immune to any illness. However, if he had to guess what being ill felt like, it probably was how he was feeling now; his entire body attacked itself from the inside out, and Shadow could scarcely understand what was occurring around him. _It's the burden I put on myself,_ he admitted in his mind, _when I took in Dark Gaia._ Opening his eyes with some difficulty, he saw a green meadow, a small cluster of trees, and a dark sky filled with stars. The same meadow from a month ago. Before this all started.

Beside him, also lying on the ground, presumably asleep, was both Maria, his long lost friend, and Sonic, his love. _Weren't we just in the ARK? And it's night. Shouldn't Sonic be transformed? _And that's when he came to the conclusion. _I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead, and this is some hallucination my mind cooked up before I bite the dust. I didn't save Sonic. I couldn't reconcile with Maria. I couldn't do anything._

Shadow couldn't help but think of the strange turns his life had taken, before it ended. One month ago, in this meadow, he adamantly refused to have Sonic alongside him. He thought the blue would never care for him, would never love him. And who knows? If Eggman didn't make the Dark Gaia, would Shadow and Sonic have ever been together? It had only been a short time, but it was closely treasured. _Perhaps it was a blessing after all. Me running with him, trying to save him... it's what brought us close._

Shadow shook his head. _What am I thinking? Thanks to my idiocy, both of us have this cursed Dark Gaia. Sonic will eventually be consumed by darkness again, and now I won't be around to stop it. _Sitting up and ignoring the pain, Shadow looked over at Maria and Sonic's sleeping forms. Breathing deeply, the two looked so peaceful. _Still, _he though, _even if it isn't real, this is my chance for some kind of resolution. I dare not waste it._

Starting with Maria, he crawled over and winced from the pain of movement, getting close to her. Trailing his fingers over the blue fabric of her dress, Shadow whispered, "I'm so sorry." Lifting her body up with great care, he embraced her. "You died because of me, and when I woke up, all I did was fight what you really wanted. I should have listened to you... and I should have known better." Trembling with her weight pressing against his arms, he put her back gently on the ground. "Though Eggman's intervention isn't how I would've planned it, I am glad that you get a second chance at life. I hope that you can find someone to take care of you and help you become the capable woman you were meant to be in the first place."

Shadow then turned toward Sonic. Wind swept through his bright blue fur, catching the light of the full moon. He hadn't seen Sonic like this before; not running around, not worrying about his fate, just... at peace. "Sonic," Shadow panted, his breath getting caught in his throat. "I - I love- " A fit of coughing disturbed his words, and he collapsed on top of the sleeping hedgehog. _Can't even say goodbye right, can I? _Shadow was disgusted with himself. What a fitting way to die.

As he felt the chest beneath him move, Shadow snapped out of his thoughts. Turning his head, he saw green eyes slowly crack open.

"Shadow?" For a moment or two, the half lidded eyes were unfocused and hazy. It was as though he was waking from a dream.

"I'm - I'm here," Shadow replied.

The eyes darted open the rest of the way, and he jumped up, taking the black hedgehog with him as he hugged him around the neck.

"Shadow, you made it! We all made it! It worked! I almost can't believe it!"

And then Shadow realized he wasn't dead. Dead people couldn't be choked by their lovers.

"Sonic - what the hell - are you-"

"We're alive! Barely, but still. And I can do Chaos Control again! And-"

"Sonic- I almost- hate to... say it, but... slow. Down."

"And the emeralds, where did they go? I mean, they must have made it down. Tails'll want to hear about this."

"Sonic..."

"But the important thing is that we made it!"

The blue hedgehog's cheek made a resounding whack as it got smacked by his black counterpart. He shut his mouth and looked at Shadow, only a twinge of hurt in his eyes.

"Are you - going to - explain - what - is going on?" Shadow was coming down from his momentary high, succumbing to the pain of speech again. Sonic dropped him and he hit the grass with a light thud.

"Are you in pain?" Sonic asked him, ignoring his question.

"It doesn't matter," he said, attempting to brush it off."

"It does too matter. It's all my fault. You have that junk Eggman made in your system. I should get you to Tails-"

"Sonic. Stop. You're rambling - again."

The blue stopped. It was only then that the black hedgehog realized that Sonic's white, gloved hands were trembling. "I know... I just... I never wanted to hurt you, Shadow. I should have never gotten you involved in all this."

Shadow thought about this for a moment. What would have happened if Shadow didn't go with Sonic all that time ago? Even if he wasn't dying, that was no guarantee that he wouldn't soon. And he had been chased around the globe, pushed around, attacked, put at the mercy of GUN, returned to the scene of his worst memory...

But he had also held Sonic's hand, and shared an igloo with him, and stayed up several nights talking to him, and gotten close to him in ways he never had before.

No, he decided. He didn't regret a thing.

With a sharp motion of his leg, he swept Sonic's feet out from under him. "ACK!" Sonic cried, letting gravity take its toll before curling up to minimize the impact of the fall. He still connected with solid ground and he rubbed his arm. "Ow! Shadow, what was that for?"

"I can't exactly stand up right now. And I wanted to do this..."

With as fast of a motion as he could muster, Shadow pulled Sonic in, and their lips connected. A heat rushed through Shadow's body, and, if only for a moment, all the pain seemed to go away. In that moment, explanations were unnecessary. By some miracle, he was alive. By some miracle, they all survived. By some miracle, Shadow and Sonic were here, together, and everything was alright.

**((I had not forgotten about this story. On the contrary, it's been on my mind a lot lately. It's been difficult to write for multiple reasons, the first being life, and the second is a break up. A story like this isn't exactly easy when you sort of hate the world.**

**In any case, there's just the epilogue, and then the end. There will eventually be a sequel, though I'll switch to other projects for a while. Thank you, all of you who are still reading.))**


	33. Epilogue

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE: Epilogue

About a week passed before Shadow felt up to walking again. Each step ached in his bones, and his muscles strained. It wasn't like him, and it frustrated him to no end. He was the Ultimate Lifeform; he was designed to withstand armies, to outlive pandemics, to survive the worst this world could throw at him. And Doctor Eggman managed to find the one thing that could take him out. Feeling so weak, so useless, was unbecoming, and with each painful movement he found himself grow angrier and angrier at his situation. Still, moving with pain was better than not moving at all, and for some reason, he could ignore it.

Of course, part of that might be because of the person he leaned on.

"Are you sure that you wouldn't just be happier with crutches, Shadow?" Sonic asked, shifting Shadow's weight over his shoulder with a small _oof_. "I know how you like to be all self reliant and stuff, and you're being kind of heavy."

_Just like him to be complaining because of the task he put on himself, _Shadow thought with a smirk. "Gee, I'm sorry that I took away all the artificial Dark Gaia from you and am now bearing the effects for you," he replied sarcastically, giving Sonic a slight glare.

"It's no big issue or anything, and believe me I'm indebted to you, but why does that mean I have to lug you around?"

"Maybe because you love me, you idiot."

"Ha ha, yeah, probably. But still, you could stand to lose a few pounds."

Shadow looked at the blue hedgehog helping him stay aloft and smiled at the silly grin on his face, white teeth shining under the building's florescent lights. Tails had insisted on the two of them living in the Spagonia lab until he could fully understand A) what was happening to Shadow and B) how to fix it. He said something about how the interaction of the Dark Gaia and his inherent Chaos was "deeply fascinating," and he'd been running tests nonstop. After all, Dark Gaia should have killed Shadow by now, yet here he was, very much alive. And like a good scientist, when Tails was presented with this enigma, he worked tirelessly to understand it. Sonic brought him food every once in a while, and Shadow himself had to intimidate him into actually sleeping, otherwise he would have probably wasted away in the lab.

The other person that was helping him was Maria. Though she wasn't quite at the same level as Tails, she proved to have a highly advanced mind, and she picked up on scientific concepts and practices quickly. Tails had been wary for the first day or two, but then she started to grow on him, and now she worked as his assistant in the lab. "She's just like her cousin," Tails told Shadow once, "except that she doesn't really care about power or fame. She just wants to help people. I can respect that."

Which brought the two hedgehogs to that hallway, walking towards his main workspace. Apparently the two of them had reached some sort of breakthrough, and

"So what do you know about the new development? Has he found a cure? Or maybe a way to make the stuff work to your advantage?"

"I know just as much about this as you do," Shadow paused.

"Well I don't know anything."

"Exactly. I don't know why you always treat me like I'm privy to so much information that you are not."

"I don't know, maybe because you have that whole 'I worked for the government' vibe. It makes you seem like you know what's going on."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't. Now would you mind shutting up?" Shadow was only pretending to be annoyed; in reality he was just glad he and Sonic were still here, talking, bickering even. Sonic met his pretend annoyance with an exaggerated pout, sticking his tongue out.

"Fine, fine."

"You're such a child."

"You know you like it."

Shadow leaned over and kissed him. "Yes, Sonic," he said, letting himself smile. "Yes I do."

* * *

Tails and Maria were in the inner lab, Crudele's old room. The schematics for various machines were strewn about the room, almost a flashing beacon saying 'Tails was here.' His inventions were practically his trademark; in what little free time, he liked tinkering here, countering the negativity of the room's past with things to help others in the future. He hadn't built anything since the three of them came back from the ARK, however. He had been too preoccupied.

"Are you sure I should be the one to talk to them, Tails?"

The young fox looked at Maria, small bags under his eyes. Sonic and Shadow had been pushing him to sleep, but the constant work showed in his body. "You'd be better at telling them the bad news. Shadow tolerates me, but he really does love you. He'd trust you. Besides, I feel like I'm close to a breakthrough," he said, trying to stay as positive as possible. It didn't work, though; his hand trembled as he handled a blood sample slide, barely keeping it between his fingers.

"Maria raised an eyebrow at him. "That's what you said last time," she said matter of factly, "and you didn't sleep for a day and a half."

"Yeah, but I mean it this time!" Tails said, standing up. The slide slipped out of his hand and shattered on the floor. He sighed, walking towards the closet and grabbing a broom and groaning. "In any case," he said, "I'm being kind of selfish too. I mean, I don't want to tell them that Shadow is supposed to be dead by now, or that what's keeping him alive is dependency on his boyfriend." He knelt down, smirking a little. "Especially considering Sonic doesn't remember even telling me about how he feels about Shadow."

The girl in the blue dress knelt beside him. "Tails..." she said, trying to find the right words to day, ultimately failing.

"No, it's okay," he said, trying to put a smile on his face. "They'll talk to me in their own time. I don't want to force anything. Just tell them that the positive emotions they feel around each other inversely correlate with the activity of the Dark Gaia construct. Shadow will get it, at least, and that's what really matters."

Maria laughed. "It's not like Sonic is leaving him much these days anyway."

"Yeah," Tails said, finally finishing his sweeping. "I just hope I can find a cure, a real cure, in time. Sonic may love Shadow, but he doesn't like to stay in one place for long."

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in space, the evil doctor observed a mass of flesh and a whimpering man strapped to a table. Unlike his usual brightly colored garments, he adopted those of the former physician on the ARK, a white robe with an almost stereotypical stethoscope, even though there was no purpose for it. Then again, Doctor Eggman wasn't typically one for practicality in the first place.

The man on the table was whimpering, but couldn't say a word. The chip in his head ensured it; to ensure that those it effected would not rise against him, he redesigned the chip to minimalize activity in Broca's area, the part of the brain in charge of complex planning. However, Broca's area also controlled the ability to speak, so the effects of the chip left its victims mute. In the doctor's mind, that was fine. He'd talk enough for the both of them, and it was a welcome change from his two companion robots, who currently were scouting behavior of others on the vessel. "Ha ha!" he said, readying a scalpel, "leaving me up here was the worst mistake those hedgehogs and the little girl could have made! They forget that though the technology is old, there's so much potential here to build, to grow!"

The doctor adjusted a dial, and the man's whimpering settled into faint panting. "Ah yes," he said, quite fond of his own voice, "from up here, I can perfect my two pet projects. Sonic couldn't kill everyone, which means there are plenty of people with chips that I can perfect, and with my grandfather's research I've already made some significant headway!"

Twisting the dial even more, the man's eyes glazed over. "Stand up," the doctor demanded, and with an ease of body envying that of a dancer, the man rose from the table and placed his feet firmly on the ground. "Ha ha ha, excellent!" Eggman cheered, clasping his hands together and grinning from ear to ear. "Motor control, at least, is possible. If I wanted to, the entire world could be my slaves!"

A scuttle of machinery entered through the door, distracting Eggman from his minor success. "So why don't you, Doctor?" said Orbot, just returned from his patrol. The doctor was not amused.

"Gah, you're done already?" he asked before turning to the man and adding with a wave of his hand, "and you, don't move an inch, no matter what happens."

The robot nodded it's head - well, CPU. "Not much to report, sir. The chips that you have not tampered with since boarding the ARK still have the original effect of making the users more docile. They are utterly incapable of doing anything about your plans, which is good because you are likewise incapable of carrying out your plans..."

"What was that, you piece of scrap metal?"

"Only using data I have gathered, sir, I have come to the conclusion that you still have not made any progress with your, ahem, scientific study."

Doctor Eggman gripped the edge of the table. "Well, prepare to be recalibrated, because you are here just in time for the next big trial of Objective Two."

"Ah, so you finally fixed the aging problem?"

"He he he..." Eggman laughed nervously, twirling his mustache, "Well, um, no. Not exactly."

"So you have, as usual, failed?"

"That's not what I said!" His fist pounded against the table. "It's true, I haven't fixed the problem. Every prototype thus far has died from the accelerated aging... the clone of my cousin shouldn't last much longer, either..." The doctor paused a moment. Remorse? No, he was just in thought. The standing man shifted his weight slightly, knocking Eggman out of his stupor. "But I got one better! A way of getting around the pesky aging problem, and a face and body that Sonic cannot resist!"

With a flourish, he produced a syringe out of his pocket and stabbed the mound of flesh on the table. It shifted and took shape, a very familiar shape indeed.

"Congratulations, sir," Orbot noted as black quills produced themselves, "you just reinvented the Shadow android."

Instead of replying to Orbot's sarcasm, the doctor simply smiled to himself. "Ah, but you see, he is an exact copy. There is no difference in ability or body from the original thing. I've recreated him to the T. And the best part?"

Turning towards the recreated hedgehog, he spoke forcefully. "Shadow?"

The form nodded its head.

"Kill him."

The form smirked before approaching the man, readying his arms. The man still seemed completely docile and at peace, even as the creature firmly placed his hands on his neck and snapped it in two. The body slumped to the floor, and the doctor began laughing. "Yes, it would seem that I have the chip in working order!"

The body began to twitch and the face winced. "He appears to be in pain, sir," Orbot added.

"That is because his body is unstable. I still need to find a way to add more stability, and maybe let him speak."

"A tall order, sir. And do you believe you will accomplish this?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. After all, with Sonic and Shadow out of commission and thinking I'm stranded," he said, putting his hands behind his head, "I've got all the time in the world."

* * *

It had been a difficult evening for Tails in general. The voices from upstairs sounded upset, and with good reason. Shadow was supposed to be dead. In order to keep him from being dead, Sonic couldn't be away from him. And Maria herself wouldn't last long either. Such was the state of things; there weren't any manipulators of Chaos around that could help Shadow, Sonic already tried, and despite days of study, there was nothing Tails could find. There would be no cure. There was no way to cure this biologically.

_If only there was some other way of fixing things, _Tails thought. _I need to think outside the box. Be creative_.

Stepping away from his computer and his books, Tails looked at the box of mementos he and Sonic kept from their adventures. Fishing through it, Tails brought out one of his oldest objects: the screwdriver he used when he fixed Sonic's biplane for the first time. It was small in his hands; he'd grown up so much since then. _Sonic's been like a brother to me for years. He saved me all those years ago, taking me away from bullies and treating me with respect. He helped me get an education, see the world. And now it's my turn to help him and I can't do anything_! The box had several other items; some leaves from trees on Angel Island, old copies of storybooks Sonic borrowed from Shadow and never returned, a few trophies from local governments for helping out, and the bracelet Sonic got from Chip. The bracelet couldn't do anything against Dark Gaia, Tails knew that - when he said he'd try everything, he meant _everything_ - but he still picked it up and twirled it in his hand.

_If only we could go back and talk to Chip. He'd probably have a few ideas... _Then a spark flickered in the foxes eyes. _That's it! If we could use the Time Stones, or be pushed in time with Time Eater, then maybe..._

Tails picked up the bracelet and ran out of the lab into the main room. His face had a plastered smile on, and for the first time in days, he seemed really, truly, happy. "Guys! We can do it! We can fix everything!"

THE END

**((So here we are. The end. I've been writing this story for almost a year now, and it's finally done. Thank you, everyone who has been reading for so long. It's very encouraging, and it makes me glad that someone likes what I do.))**

**((In a few weeks, after finals are over, I'm starting work on a sequel if you'd still be interested. It has a few twists, and unlike this one, it's more planned, more deliberate. I think you'll really like it. Again, review and rate and everything, and thank you all again so much for reading.))**


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